Despite the problems that Spanish and European exporters face due to Brexit, Spain's lettuce retains its dominant position in the British market, accounting for 91.95% of all UK lettuce imports. The Netherlands has a 2.18% share of the British market. Italy accounts for 2.1%. Morocco and Turkey are the most important non-EU suppliers, with a share of 0.18% and 0.11% respectively.
These data come from a report by the Spanish news service Hortoinfo based on figures from Comtrade, the UN statistics department. However, it is important to note that UK lettuce imports have decreased by 43.55% since 2019 and that imports from Spain fell by 39.29%. This decrease is partially attributed to the increase in British domestic lettuce production, which increased by 18.36%, going from 103.16 million kilos in 2021 to 122.10 million kilos in 2022, according to the FAO.
In 2023, Spain exported 118.78 million kilos of lettuce to the UK (i.e. 91.25% of the total) for 191.29 million euros and an average price of 1.61 euros per kilo. For comparison, in 2019, Spain exported 186.45 million kilos worth 116.87 million euros and an average price of 0.63 euros per kilo. In 2023, the Netherlands sold 2.82 million kilos, i.e. 2.18% of the total, for 6.58 million euros and an average price of 2.34 euros per kilo. Italy ranked third with 2.71 million kilos worth 5.63 million euros and an average price of 2.07 euros per kilo. Morocco, the first non-EU supplier, sold 227,000 kilos at an average price of 1.37 euros per kilo.
Source: hortoinfo.es