WAPA updates Northern Hemisphere apple forecast

WAPA (World Apple and Pear Association) has released an updated Northern Hemisphere apple forecast, as crops have now been fully harvested. The new estimates are still in line with the original forecast. Overall, the countries surveyed by WAPA covers a production of 81 million tons of apples and 23 million tons of pears.

The updated estimates for European apple production of the 21 top EU producing countries and the UK increased by 160,000 tons to 11,89 million tons (+1.36% from the original forecast and +11% from last year). The new figure is due to increases in Poland (+130,000 tons), Belgium (+48,000 tons) and Austria (+5,000 tons) compared to the original forecast. There were drops in France (-12,000 tons) and the Netherlands (-5,000 tons). Italy remains stable at 2,044,000 tons, with 2.000 tons less compared to the initial forecast of August. Meanwhile, the US apple crop is confirmed stable at 4,6 million tons (6% down from last year).