The statement by the Minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, referring to the fact that Romania has a trade deficit in food because Romanians eat avocados is not supported by reality: a picture of Romania’s production of vegetables and fruits shows that our country is wasting its potential and, despite the proportion of agricultural land in the total area, we are far behind comparable states in terms of production and consumption potential.
However, Romanian production of fresh fruit and vegetables represented only 1.9% of the total EU production last year.
In 2024, 62.2 million tons of fresh fruit and vegetables were harvested in the EU, representing an increase of 6% compared to 2023.
Romania – disproportionately low vegetable production, compared to the potential of the land and climate: the Nordics, for example, surpass us in cucumber production
For some vegetables, our production is incredibly low: for example, the Nordic countries surpass us in the production of… cucumbers.
The largest producers of fresh vegetables in the EU are Spain (14.8 million tons), Italy (13.9 million tons) and France (5.8 million tons), together accounting for 55% of the total harvest.
Romania ranked 11th in Europe in 2024, with 1.9% of total production, with a vegetable and fruit harvest of 1.15 million tons. Although it has a much smaller cultivated area, Hungary surpassed Romania, producing 1.37 million tons.
Among EU countries, Italy was the biggest producer of tomatoes in 2024, accounting for 36% of the total EU tomato harvest, followed by Spain (27%) and Portugal (10%).
In terms of fresh vegetables production, Romania ranks disproportionately low compared to its potential. This is due to the absence of a vegetable canning industry that processes a good part of the harvest. Thus, the demand is only for vegetables that are consumed fresh.
For example, Romania ranked behind Finland last year in cucumbers production.
Among vegetables, we rank best in garlic production, 5th in the EU, after Poland. In terms of carrots, Romania’s production is more than 10 times lower that of Germany’s.
Fruits production: plums come first
In terms of fresh fruit, Romania ranks better in Europe, being sixth among producers.
For example, we rank first place in plums production, with 610 thousand tons, far behind France, which harvested 173 thousand tons last year. Romanian farmers prefer plum orchards because they can „preserve” the fruits on their farms, especially in the form of distillates, namely alcoholic beverages.
In Europe, fruit production was 24.3 million tons. This was 2% less than the harvest in 2023.
The main producers of fruit, berries and nuts in the EU in 2024 were Italy (5.4 million tons), Spain (4.3 million tons) and Poland (4.1 million tons), together accounting for 57% of EU production.
EU apple production was 11.6 million tons in 2024, with the majority coming from Poland (29%), Italy (21%) and France (17%). EU production in 2024 was 4% lower than in 2023. In terms of grapes, Romania ranks after Italy and Spain, world leaders in the field. France ranks third. Romania ranks sixth in the EU in grape production, after Greece, and fifth if only wine grape production is taken into account.
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