Spanish fresh fruit and vegetable exports generated €12.73 billion in the first seven months of 2026, even as the amount of produce shipped overseas edged lower.
Exports between January and July reached around 7.5 million tonnes, down 1% compared with the same period last year, according to figures from Spain’s Department of Customs and Excise Duties processed by industry federation FEPEX.
The value of those exports increased 5.8%.
For supermarket buyers, the figures point to an increasingly important divide between physical availability and the cost of sourcing Spanish produce.
Vegetable exports were responsible for much of the decline in overall volumes.
Shipments fell 2.6% to around 3.3 million tonnes.
Potato exports dropped particularly sharply, falling 23% to 139,568 tonnes.
Onion volumes declined 13.5% to 141,972 tonnes, while courgette exports were down 5.2% to 252,937 tonnes.
Tomato exports fell 4.3% to 380,188 tonnes and pepper shipments declined 2.4% to 476,375 tonnes.
Some major vegetable categories moved in the opposite direction.
Lettuce exports increased 2.9% to 487,179 tonnes, while cucumber shipments rose 1.2% to 415,939 tonnes.
Fruit performed more strongly overall.
Spanish fruit exports increased 0.8% year on year to approximately 4.1 million tonnes.
Watermelon was one of the strongest categories, with exports rising 20.8% to 701,057 tonnes.
Melon shipments increased 15.9% to 275,434 tonnes.
The picture was considerably weaker across citrus.
Orange exports dropped 12% to 826,149 tonnes, while lemon shipments fell 8.6% to 385,057 tonnes.
Mandarin exports declined 6.5% to 493,706 tonnes.
The shift matters across European grocery supply chains because Spain remains one of the region’s most important sources of fresh fruit and vegetables.
A relatively small decline in aggregate volumes can therefore mask much larger changes within individual categories.
Retail buyers sourcing tomatoes, citrus, potatoes and other affected lines may face a different supply environment from buyers working with products such as watermelon and melon.
The financial data also shows that lower or broadly stable volumes are not translating into lower export revenues.
Fruit exports generated around €7.03 billion during the January-to-July period, up 4%.
Vegetable export value increased 8% to approximately €5.71 billion.
That means Spanish suppliers generated greater export revenue despite shipping slightly less produce overall.
Regional figures underline how differently the market is developing across Spain.
Andalusia remained the country’s largest exporting region by volume, shipping approximately 2.68 million tonnes, down 0.8%.
The Valencia region exported around 1.92 million tonnes, a decline of 7.2%.
Murcia performed more strongly, with volumes increasing 6.2% to approximately 1.64 million tonnes.
The difference was even clearer when measured by value.
Andalusia generated approximately €5.42 billion from fresh-produce exports, an increase of 6.9%.
Murcia’s export value climbed 10% to around €2.48 billion.
Valencia generated approximately €2.90 billion, down 1.8%.
For European supermarkets, Spain’s latest figures reinforce a sourcing trend that has been developing for several seasons: tonne-for-tonne supply and the amount buyers ultimately pay are increasingly moving in different directions.
Weather conditions, labour, input costs and differences between crop categories can all affect the amount of produce available.
That leaves buyers needing to look beyond headline national export volumes when planning programmes, particularly in categories where shipments are already falling significantly faster than the overall market.
The next export figures will indicate whether the stronger summer fruit performance is enough to offset continuing weakness across vegetables and citrus as Spain moves further into the second half of the year.
Editor note: Based on FEPEX data published on 25 September 2026 and figures from Spain’s Department of Customs and Excise Duties. GTN reviewed the underlying category and regional data and added analysis for supermarket sourcing and fresh-produce buyers.
