Ecuadorian banana exports from Jan. to Feb. 2023, amounted to 66.8 million boxes, 0.47% lower than in the same period of 2022.

Primary markets for Ecuadorian bananas

As for the destination of Ecuadorian banana exports, of the 66.86 million boxes exported in the first two months of the year, 32% were destined for the European Union (27); 23% to Russia; 12% to the Middle East, and 11.55% to the United States. 

Russia, the biggest importer of the product, showed a decrease of 5% year on year, however, other regions had even bigger drops. 

Regions like the Middle East decreased imports by 16.8%, Southern Cone by 1%, East Asia by 12%, and Eastern Europe by 68% mainly due to the drastic reduction of exports to Ukraine because of the conflict with Russia, and EFTA by 17%.

"The largest reductions by type of banana boxes are evident in baby bananas and red bananas. Baby banana boxes reduced their exports by 27%, going from exporting 280,000 boxes in 2022 to 210,000 boxes in 2023. 

Likewise, mesh-type bananas decreased their export numbers by 25%. On the other hand, 22XU-type boxes reported an increase in their export level of Ecuadorian bananas. In 2023, 1.17 million additional boxes of this brand were exported," said José Antonio Hidalgo, Executive Director of AEBE.

Dole remains the leading exporting brand of Ecuadorian bananas with 14% of the volume.