Morocco covers 65% of Spain’s watermelon imports, recent figures show

With 78.76% million kilograms, Morocco has supplied 65% of the watermelon that Spain has imported during the 2022/2023 campaign, which is an increase of 643% over ten campaigns, according to a recent study conducted by Hortoinfo.

The recent finding of Hortoinfo indicated that 65,34% of the watermelons imported to the Spanish market were of Moroccan origin, making the Kingdom the primary supplier of this type of pepos to Spain.

The Iberian country purchased a volume of 78.76 million kilograms for the 2022/2023 campaign from the Kingdom of Morocco, with a total value of purchases amounting to 52.48 million euros, which costs 0.67 euros per kilogram on average.

Compared to the 2013/2014 campaign, Spain imported only a total volume of 10.59 million kilograms, which cost 4.45 million euros –0.42 euros per kilogram.

The figures showcase that Morocco has augmented watermelon imports to the Spanish Market, with a total of 643.4%.

The second supplier of watermelon to Spain during the 2022/2023 campaign was Senegal with 19.34 million kilograms, making up 16.04 of the total watermelons that entered the Spanish market. The value of these imports was 10.85 million euros—which costs 0.56 euros per kilogram on average, according to a Hortoinfo study.

Mauritania secured the third spot in the list as the main supplier of watermelon to the Spanish market, exporting 12.63 million kilograms during the same campaign, representing 10.48% of the total watermelon imported to Spain. The values of these imports were 10.9 million euros and an average cost of 0.86 euros per kilogram.

France, on the other hand, appears to be the fourth supplier of watermelons to Spain, with a total of 2.85 million kilos purchased for an amount of 1.95 million euros, at an average price of 0.68 euros per kilo.

According to the list, Brazil lagged behind France, selling 1.94 million kilograms to Spain in the same year campaign. The values of these imports were 1.71 million euros and cost 0.88 euros per kilogram on average.

Spain spent 80.98 million euros in total on imported watermelons during the 2022–2023 campaign, with a kilogram costing an average of 0.67 euros. Comparing this figure to the 2013/2014 campaign, there has been a notable growth of 462.36%.

Morocco is also considered among the largest suppliers of fruits and berries to France, with a notable demand for watermelons, according to August’s EastFruit report.

Morocco’s watermelons also gained popularity among UK consumers, said the same report.