Nutrition
Where our vegetables come from
Fresh vegetables often come from abroad. But where exactly?
By far the most important delivery countries for fresh vegetables in Germany are Spain and the Netherlands. The parts of these countries are particularly large in the imports of cucumbers and tomatoes. This emerges from a press release from the Federal Information Center Agriculture (BZL).
Tomate is the most important import vegetables
The tomato is therefore the most popular in Germany and also the most important import vegetables. Around 736,000 tons were introduced to Germany in 2024. Almost half of them (48 percent) came from the Netherlands, a fifth (22 percent) from Spain.
In total, around twelve percent of all fresh tomatoes come from German cultivation. If you add processed tomato products, the proportion of domestic tomatoes drops to almost four percent.
In fresh cucumbers, the proportion of goods imported from the Netherlands and Spain is even higher with around 84 percent. 43 percent of all fresh cucumbers come from Spain, 41 percent from the Netherlands.
Higher self -sufficiency in salad
However, the level of self -care is higher: According to the BZL, more than half of the salad in Germany is grown by domestic agriculture. Of the additional imported salads, 71 percent come from Spain and Italy.
Spain is also by far the largest supplier for fresh fruit. Apple, melons and oranges in particular mostly come from Spain. The most important import fruit is the banana: in 2024 1.34 million tons were introduced to Germany, origin is mostly southern and Central America.
dpa
Source: Stern
