Browse Data and Analysis

New Zealand’s apple planted area in the 2023/2024 market year (MY) is forecast to be 9,200 hectares (ha), a substantial drop from 11,000 ha at the start of the 2022/2023 MY. This is due to the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle, which brought large-scale floodwaters, silt, debris, wind, and surface flooding to the primary apple growing regions of Hawkes Bay and Gisborne.

The cold and wet winter of 2023 provided favorable conditions for deciduous fruit and aided in improved production volumes. Production is expected to grow and improve in quality from MY 2022/23 when fruit was affected by hail damage.

South African production of lemons is forecast to rise by 10 percent in MY 2023/24 on sufficient irrigation and greater input investments by producers, while tangerine/mandarins production is forecast to increase by 4 percent.

New Zealand apple-planted area in the 2023/2024 market year is forecast to drop substantially from 11,000 ha to 9,200 ha.

Despite industry consolidation resulting in limited expansion, deciduous fruit production is expected to grow marginally as plantings come into production.

South African production of oranges and lemons is projected to decrease in MY 2022/23 due to stagnated production area and a return to normal yield.

The production of apples, pears and table grapes is estimated to decrease slightly in the 2022/23 Marketing Year (MY), based largely on stagnated production area and a return to normal yields following record production for all three commodities.

New Zealand apple production in 2022/23 has been revised down sharply as a result of the damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle, which hit the nation’s largest apple growing and exporting region – Hawke’s Bay/Gisborne – in February.

The Government of New Zealand has passed legislation that will restrict a wide range of plastic products to be sold in New Zealand, including non-compostable produce stickers.

The area under citrus cultivation in South Africa has grown steadily over the past decade, driven by ongoing investments on relatively high earnings from export markets. As a result, South Africa is set for record citrus exports of 2.7 million tons in marketing year 2021/22.

The outlook for the 2022/23 apple season in New Zealand is much more optimistic with the opening of international borders following COVID-19 restrictions. While the last two apple harvests were severely impacted by the lack of labor, the return of overseas workers under the Recognized Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme is expected to help allow a recovery in production, with the forecast up 12 percent from the previous year’s estimated crop.

The area under apple, pears, and table grape cultivation in South Africa has grown steadily over the past decade, driven by ongoing investments into the deciduous fruit sector on relatively high earnings from export markets. However, the expansion in apple, pears, and table grape production is expected to alleviate in marketing year (MY) 2022/23, despite the production of record crops in MY 2021/22.