THE MOST comprehensive and contemporary data available on all sectors of the Australian horticulture industry is now available through the release of the 2017/18 Horticulture Statistics Handbook.

Released by Hort Innovation, the Handbook features information drawn from several supply chain and trade sources and it includes data on more than 70 horticultural products including fruit, nuts, vegetables, nursery, turf and cut flowers.

Hort Innovation General Manager for Research, Marketing and Investment, David Moore, said the Handbook provided an in-depth overview of how the industry was performing at large, with a targeted focus on fresh market supply values and volumes by product, import and export dynamics, and the identification of key production regions and seasonality.

“The data tells us that in the 2017/18 financial year, fresh horticulture exports were valued at $2.15 Billion – around 6 per cent (%) higher than in the previous year. This equated to around 746,344 tonnes of fresh produce and accounts for 11% of total production volume,” he said.

“It tells us that of the $13.2 Billion of total value produced across all Australian horticulture industries, Asia was the primary export destination of fresh Australian produce, amounting to over 535,135 tonnes at a value of over $1.5 Billion.

“The data determines that the increase in export value was primarily driven by citrus exports, with cherries, summerfruit, walnuts and carrots also showing strong growth.

“And at a local level, the data tells us that Australian vegetable growers produced almost 3.7 million tonnes of fresh produce in the year ending June 2018.”

Mr Moore said, now in its fourth iteration, the Horticulture Statistics Handbook provides important data for industry, researchers and decision makers, while supporting policy formation and contributing to further research that will benefit the industry.

He said it provided industry relevant data in an easy to understand guide that was accessible to the grower community and anyone with a vested interest in the Australian horticulture industry.

The Handbook, which captured data up until June 30, 2018 also revealed:

• Nationally, almonds were Australia’s most valuable horticultural export product ($440M) followed by table grapes ($384M), oranges ($280M) macadamias ($266M), and mandarins ($139M).
• The turf industry produced 43.6 Million m2 of turf grass worth $273M in production value.
• Victoria was the nation’s leading fresh exporter accounting for 47 per cent of the total value of horticultural exports, valued at almost $997M.
• The largest export markets for fresh Australian horticultural products by value were Asia (72 per cent), followed by Europe (9 per cent) and the Middle East (9 per cent).