Dried fruit exports increased to 829 million dollars.

In the first half of 2024, the export of dried fruits, one of Turkey’s traditional export sectors, decreased from 227 thousand tons to 200 thousand tons in terms of quantity, while the foreign exchange earnings increased from 722 million dollars to 829 million dollars, with a 15% increase. The export price per ton in the dried fruit sector, which was an average of 3,184 dollars in the first half of 2023, increased by 30% to 4,128 dollars in the first half of 2024. Turkey is a world leader in production and export of seedless raisins, dried apricots, and dried figs, which are included in the list of healthy foods by the World Health Organization. Seedless raisins led the way with 240 million dollars in exports, contributing 29% to the total dried fruit exports of 829 million dollars. While apricot exports experienced a 2% decline, the foreign exchange earnings from apricots amounted to 187 million dollars. Turkey exported 30,254 tons of dried figs in the first half of 2024, with the foreign exchange earnings from dried figs increasing by 23% from 114 million dollars to 140 million dollars. Antep pistachio exports saw a 76% increase, reaching 97 million dollars. In the almond export category, Turkey earned 27 million 250 thousand dollars, while pine nut exports increased by 155% from 5.7 million dollars to 14.5 million dollars. Turkey earned 14 million dollars from chickpea exports and 13.3 million dollars from walnut exports. Apricot and peach kernel exports were recorded at 5.5 million dollars and apple dried fruit exports at 5.2 million dollars. Mehmet Ali Işık, the President of the Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters’ Association and the Coordinator of Organic Products and Sustainability at the Aegean Exporters’ Associations, stated that they had made a successful entry into the second century of our Republic and aimed to maintain the success line in the second half of 2024, reaching their export target of 1.8 billion dollars by the end of the year. President Işık emphasized that quality and food safety are their top priorities in the dried fruit sector, and they work very harmoniously with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, exporters, producers, traders, and universities to meet the standards desired by importing countries. He also mentioned their efforts to increase the global recognition and consumption of Turkish dried fruits through marketing activities supported by the Ministry of Trade by clustering under the TURQUALITY and UR-GE Projects. While strengthening our position in our traditional export market in Europe in our UR-GE Project, we have identified the United States, China, Japan, Brazil, India, South Korea, Malaysia, and Indonesia as target markets. We are conducting promotional activities to increase our exports to these markets.
The United States surpassed the United Kingdom to rise to second place. Mehmet Ali Işık pointed out that Turkey continued its leadership in the 135 countries and customs territories to which it exported dried fruits in the first half of 2024 with Germany’s demand amounting to 106 million dollars. He continued, “Thanks to the fairs we have been attending for 25 years and the Turkish Tastes project named TURQUALITY that we have been carrying out for 5 years in the U.S. market, our position in the New World is gaining strength every year. Our exports to the U.S. increased by 45% in the first half of 2024, rising from 60.6 million dollars to 88 million dollars, surpassing the United Kingdom to become our second largest market. Our exports to the United Kingdom increased by 21% from 70.5 million dollars to 85 million dollars. These countries were followed by France, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Canada, and the Russian Federation.