Editor's Note
This editor’s note highlights the key facts and market implications behind “Italian Fruit and Vegetable Sector to Reach €17 “, with emphasis on sourcing, product fit, fabrication, logistics, or buyer impact.
The Italian fruit and vegetable sector arrives at Macfrut 2026 with a figure that immediately clarifies its real weight: in 2025 , the sector generated approximately €17 billion considering the agricultural phase alone . Within this perimeter, it represents about a quarter of the value of national agriculture . On the export front, the picture remains equally solid, with exports exceeding €13 billion (combining fresh and processed products), a share close to 18% of national agri-food exports , and the most significant contribution to the sector's trade balance. Italy also remains the world's leading exporter of apples and occupies third place in Europe (by weight of fruit and vegetable exports), behind Spain and the Netherlands . This is the basis for understanding the presence of ISMEA at the Rimini Expo Centre from 21 to 23 April .
The Decisive Step: Correctly Reading the Numbers
The crucial step today concerns the correct interpretation of the numbers. The €17 billion estimate accompanying the Rimini event coexists with the €18.9 billion and €19 billion figures cited in other industry documents. The values change because the observed statistical base changes, as does the economic boundary under examination. Separating these levels is essential to understand where value is created and where, instead, the system is still seeking greater commercial efficiency and more stability in domestic demand.
Why We Read 17, 18.9, and 19 Billion
The €17 billion threshold released by ISMEA captures 2025 while limiting itself to agricultural value . The figures of €18.9 billion and €19 billion , however, belong to the reconstruction based on ISTAT 2024 data, taken up in the Italmercati-ISMEA 2025 Report and then rounded in Macfrut materials. In that informational set, fruit and vegetables remain the leading sector of Italian agriculture, with over 258,000 companies , nearly 1.2 million hectares invested, and production that in 2024 approached 24.6 million tonnes . The figure changes, but the sector's leadership remains identical.
Within this same interpretive key, an element often compressed in headlines emerges. The fruit and vegetable sector also includes a robust downstream industrial infrastructure, consisting of selection and packaging, up to processing. The companies active in this part of the supply chain number about 1,650 and generate a turnover close to €11.3 billion . This is why hasty comparisons generate confusion: when the perimeter narrows to the harvest, the value drops; when the connected supply chain is observed, the economic dimension immediately expands.
The Same Precision is Needed for Foreign Trade
The value exceeding €13 billion includes fresh and processed fruit and vegetables in 2025. The figures relaunched on the eve of Macfrut in other industry analyses, including those built on an ICE basis, instead move on different segments: in some cases, they look only at fresh produce; in others, they stop at the first eleven months of the year; in others still, they round the most legible component at the fair to €7 billion . The impression of inconsistency arises from here. The numbers, read within their correct perimeter, tell a compatible trajectory. The economic substance remains very clear. Italy retains a strong competitive advantage in productions with high unit value and high commercial recognizability. The case of apples continues to distinguish the country on a global scale. To this base are added significant results for kiwi , peaches and nectarines , dried fruit, and numerous vegetable references. The geography of destinations confirms the weight of the European market, with Germany ahead of other outlets and a solid presence also in France , Austria , and Switzerland . The structure of the supply also matters here. The system has over 300 active producer organizations , an essential safeguard in a market that lives on varietal programming, rapid logistics, and supply continuity. It is this setup that allows transforming production quality into stable sales abroad and defending the trade balance in a phase still marked by high operating costs.
Source: Read the original article | Published: April 18, 2026