From July 2022 to January 2023, Morocco exported a record volume of avocados for this period, 35,500 tons, 60% more than in the same months of the previous season. Thus, before exceeding the total exports of the previous season, Moroccan exporters have only 7,000 tons of avocados to export to foreign markets. Based on past trends, this goal should be achieved almost seamlessly in the remaining months, and Morocco will effectively set a new export record by the end of the 2022/23 season.
It should be noted that over the past five seasons, Morocco’s avocado exports have nearly doubled, and for the 2021/22 season, they amounted to 42,300 tons. At the end of 2022, Morocco also became the ninth largest exporter of avocados in the world, up from twelfth five years ago. Only a few countries in South America (Peru, Chile, Colombia), Europe (Netherlands, Spain) and Africa (Kenya, South Africa) exported more avocados than Morocco, while Mexico is the undisputed leader in world exports with an annual supply of 1 to 1.4 million tons.
According to EastFruit, the geography of Moroccan avocado exports shows the same trends as other fruit and vegetable segments of the Moroccan market (blueberries or strawberries can be considered an example). Approximately 75% of Moroccan avocado exports in the 2017/18 season went to Spain, which is one of the largest investors in Moroccan agribusiness and Morocco’s largest trading partner.
In addition, the policy of diversifying avocado exports adopted by Moroccan exporters has reduced Spain’s share to 39% as of the 2021/22 season, and volumes that were previously re-exported through Spanish wholesalers have begun to be delivered directly to buyers in other countries.
France, another important partner of Morocco in investment and trade in agribusiness, has become the second country in the structure of Moroccan exports with a share of 26%. It is followed by the Netherlands (19%), Germany (10%) and the United Kingdom (3%). The list of smaller countries importing Moroccan avocados for the 2021/22 season includes Russia (600 tons), Switzerland (300 tons), Belgium (200 tons), Portugal (100 tons), as well as some countries in the Middle East (300 tons) and Sub-Saharan Africa (200 tons).
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