France’s main apricot-growing region is its Mediterranean Basin, due to its ideal climate. Here are some key figures about the production and consumption of France’s second-most-popular summer fruit.
Production: France’s 3rd-largest fruit crop
In volume terms, apricot ranks 3rd among fruits grown in France, trailing apple and peach/nectarine.
In France1 :
- Cultivated surface area: 12,800 hectares.
- Production: 177,900 tonnes in 2014 since the ideal climate conditions enabled the orchard to express its full potential. Apricot is susceptible to climate variations: the produced volume fluctuates from year to year.
France has three main apricot-growing regions 2:
France is Europe’s leading producer3 of apricots for the fresh market (only 14% of the total tonnage goes to the processing market). France ranks a close second, just behind Italy, for total production tonnage.
68% of apricot tonnage is destined for France’s domestic market with the remaining third sold for export. The main export destinations are Germany (42%), Italy (19%) and Switzerland (8%) 4.
Apricots are good for jobs!
French domestic apricot production generates 5,700 full-time equivalent jobs.
Consumption: a fruit acclaimed by the French 5
In summer, French people love to eat succulent our regions’ apricots. Only peach/nectarines are more popular! Households that buy apricots purchase nearly 3.5 kg annually, for an average budget of €11. Not bad for a fruit that is available for only 4 months per year!
The most tell-tale sign is that demand for apricot has been rising steadily: between 2008 and 2010 and in 2012, purchased quantities rose by 25% and the number of buyers by almost 10%6 !
(1) Statistics and Forecasting Office of the French Ministry of Agriculture (2014).
(2) Inventory of the French AOP apricot orchard (2013).
(3) Source Eurostat
(4) Source: French Customs Administration 2014
(5) Source: Kantar Worldpanel (2013)
(6) Source: Kantar Worldpanel
