Last week, the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) published their "provisional figures on agriculture in 2024: bad harvests and price drop."
"Harvests up for virtually all vegetables"
"Fruit production is expected to recover slightly (+1.2%). In particular, the apple harvest is set to rise by 7.4%, thanks to good weather conditions in the south of France. After the poor harvests of 2023, walnut and pear production are set to rebound strongly (+21.8% and +11.5%, respectively). Conversely, apricot production is set to be down by 34.6%, due to a reduction in the area under cultivation and lower yields. Vegetable production is set to increase by 4.3% in volume terms, mainly due to better harvests of endives (+30.3%) and tomatoes (+7.4%), compared to a very poor previous season. Harvests are expected to be up for virtually all vegetables, the rare exceptions being zucchinis (-9.7%), pumpkins (-9.3%), garlic (-6.5%) and peas (-6.0%). Potato harvests are expected to be up by 10.6%, thanks in particular to a 15.8% increase in the area under storage and mid-season varieties, boosted by the opening of new processing plants in the Hauts-de-France region.
"Falling prices, except for fruit, fresh vegetables and champagne"
In 2024, producer prices (excluding subsidies) are expected to fall for vegetable products (-6.8%).
The increase in potato production will be accompanied by a price decrease (-5.5%). Conversely, the upturn in volumes will not prevent fruit prices from rising (+2.7%). Virtually all fruits will see their prices rise, in particular walnuts (+27.3%), strawberries (+10.4%) and apples (+2.4%). The exceptions are peaches (-6.0%), due to sluggish consumption at the start of the season, and pears (-7.5%) following their sharp rise the previous year. Vegetable prices are expected to rise by 5.3%. The biggest increases are expected for garlic (+24.5%), endives (+24.2%) and cucumbers (+19.8%). The biggest decreases would be for artichokes (-16.3%) and onions (-8.3%). Wine prices are expected to fall by 1.5%, as the drop in volumes is not enough to compensate for the lower demand, both domestic and export. As in the previous year, the price of champagne will be the only one to rise (+7.6%), while the fall in prices of other appellation wines (-6.2%) and non-appellation wines (-4.9%) will intensify. Overall, prices for plant products rose by 17.3% in 2022, before falling sharply in 2023 (-11.4%).
Source: insee.fr
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