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In its annual market report, FAO said pineapple exports from the Philippines last year rose by 14.1 percent on an annual basis to a record-high 680,000 MT.
STAR / File
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is still the world’s second largest pineapple exporter for 15 straight years after shipments in 2024 rose by double-digit rate to some 680,000 metric tons, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
In its annual market report, FAO said pineapple exports from the Philippines last year rose by 14.1 percent on an annual basis to a record-high 680,000 MT.
The country cornered 19 percent of the total pineapple shipments last year. It remained behind Costa Rica, the world’s leading pineapple exporter, that held 68 percent of the global market, according to FAO.
“Based on available trade data, global exports of fresh pineapples grew by 5.2 percent in 2024 to 3.6 million MT, determined largely by higher supplies from Costa Rica and the Philippines,” FAO said.
China drove the increase in the Philippines’ pineapple exports last year, with shipments to the East Asian country growing by 9.4 percent on an annual basis, FAO said. China accounted for some 40 percent of the country’s total pineapple exports last year.
Despite producing about two million MT of pineapples annually, China is unable to meet its total domestic requirement, especially amid growing demand for more premium varieties like MD2 from the Philippines, FAO said.
“Import growth continued to be driven not only by the need for higher volumes but also by growing demand for more premium pineapples, with the MD2 variety from the Philippines particularly sought after,” it said.
MD2 pineapples have a sweeter profile, higher sugar content, lower acidity, higher Vitamin C content and have longer shelf life than other varieties.
The Philippines’ pineapple exports to other key markets like Japan and South Korea continued to expand at a faster rate, FAO said.
Shipments to Japan rose by 20 percent year-on-year while exports to South Korea grew by 28 percent on an annual basis, according to FAO.
The FAO said the average export unit value of shipments from the Philippines to world markets rose by 6.3 percent year-on-year to $630 per MT in 2024.
The STAR earlier reported that the country’s export earnings from pineapples and pineapple products reached almost almost $800 million last year, based on Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data.
Earnings from exports of pineapples and pineapple products went up by 7.5 percent on an annual basis to $787.12 million, the PSA said.
More than half of the export receipts came from shipments of fresh or dried pineapples, which rose by a little over a fifth year-on-year to $428.74 million, PSA data showed.
