Myplant & Garden, the leading trade fair for professional horticulture in Italy, comments on the latest official data available coming from the Ministry of Agriculture regarding Italian production in 2020.
The value of production in 2020 has been 2.65 billion euro (which is 4.8% of production at base prices of Italian agriculture), with an aggregate contraction of 2.4% (66 millions less than 2019): flowers and ornamental plants have shrank by 3%, nurseries by 1.9%.
“This is a factor we had already anticipated in January 2021, because of the consequences of the postponement of the trade fair and of lockdowns. The closing of distribution and retail channels in the horticulture industry, the destruction of significant amounts of perishable goods – around 60% of cut flowers, for instance – the restrictions concerning events and ceremonies have all played a significant role. The wedding industry had been valued in 300 billion dollars in 2019, and it is now quickly recovering. Losses have been contained, and export has kept pace with the previous year”.
World production in 2020 has reached 90 billion USD, whereas the European market has been valued in 20 billion euro (according to AIPH and Eurostat) with 29% of production coming from The Netherlands, 17% from Germany, 14% from Spain, 13% from France, 12% from Italy.
“In our international business hub,” affirms Myplant, “we are satisfied about the records that export has registered in 2019, reaching 903 million euro in one year.”.
Italy confirms its role of exporter of horticultural products: the value of export at production level has been of 903 million euro. The positive balance of 423 million euro of the trade balance can be referred to outdoor plants (+310 millions) that cover 43% of exports, followed by grapevine cuttings, fruit trees and vegetables that amounted to 129 million euro. Cut foliage has been valued at 104 million euro with a balance close to 90 million euro.
Horticulture plays an important role also in the complex exchange of agricultural edible goods, especially as far as their export is concerned, with a value of 13% on the total.
“Horticulture is among those industries that have been hit hard by the pandemic. However, it is also a sector that has shown good resilience qualities by registering a staggering 33% increase in the export of plants produced in Italy in the first trimester in 2021 – Myplant comments. It seems that Istat (Italian institute for statistics) is going to confirm this for the whole year. The only menace is the increase in production costs, which have risen up to 25% as far as packaging, energy, fertilisers and transport expenses are concerned.”
The 28 countries that belong to the EU are the main platform for Italian products (84%). Around 60% of Italian export goes to France, Germany, The Netherlands and United Kingdom. The Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain and Poland, instead, are the main import markets for Italy.
