Ecuadorian banana exports reached 292 million boxes during 2022, with the EU market representing 26% of total shipments. According to a study by DATACOMEX and the Statistical Observatory of Bananas, the EU is now its main destination.

However, exports of the commodity suffered a drop during the past season, experiencing an almost 8% decrease year-on-year from 316 million boxes of bananas in 2021.

This also translated to a 10% drop in exports to the EU, which closed at 85 million boxes in 2022.

The U.S. also decreased its imports of Ecuadorian fruit by 14% year-on-year, equivalent to 4 million fewer boxes.

At regional level, the largest reductions in banana boxes were seen in Africa and Oceania. The first went from 22 million boxes in 2021 to 14 million boxes in 2022, while the latter received around 3 million boxes of bananas during the same period. 

The second destination for banana exports was Russia with 23%, representing a shipment of 67 million boxes. By last year, cumulative exports to this destination reached around 69 million boxes, representing a 3% reduction to almost 2 million boxes

On the other hand, the Middle East region reported an increase in its purchases of Ecuadorian bananas. In 2022, almost 3 million additional boxes were exported to this region, reaching a total 46 million boxes.