In 2023, the European Union imported 339.8 thousand tons of spices from non-member countries, according to the EU Statistical Office (Eurostat).
Over the past ten years, imports have increased by 44%.
Last year, China was the main supplier of spices, accounting for 39% of the total supply to the European Union, the report said.
The most popular spice was ginger (114 thousand tons), followed by paprika (110.6 thousand tons) and pepper (50.3 thousand tons). China was the main country of supply for ginger (43%) and paprika (73%), while pepper was mostly purchased from Vietnam (63%).
Turmeric ranked fourth (16 thousand tons), with the bulk of imports coming from India (79%). Cinnamon was in fifth place (13.3 thousand tons), with Vietnam accounting for more than a third of the supply (37%).
Over the past ten years, imports of turmeric and ginger have increased most significantly – by 2.4 times and 2.1 times. At the same time, purchases of pepper abroad decreased by 11%.
