World cherry production has steadily increased over the last decade, from about 2.2 million tonnes to the current 2.8 million tonnes.
The area under production has grown just as fast, reaching 460,000 hectares globally by 2021.
Production is concentrated in certain areas of the globe: Western Asia (Turkey), Southern Europe, North America (United States and Canada) for the Northern hemisphere and South America (Chile) for the Southern hemisphere.
The largest producing country in the world is currently Turkey, while Chile and United States are at similar levels in 2021.
The production yield has also increased in the last decade from 5.5 tonnes/hectare to around 6 tonnes/hectare.
Export in quantity has more than doubled in the last decade, exceeding one million tonnes.
In the same period, the global export value exceeded USD 5 billion, up from around USD 2 million at the beginning of the decade.
The main exporting regions are East Asia (for trade with China at its centre), South America (Chile) and West Asia.
Among the exporting countries, Chile is the largest; followed (among the producing countries) by Turkey and the United States.
Imports have grown in step with exports over the last decade.
In the last two years, China accounted for almost all global imports, followed at a distance by Russia and Germany.
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South Africa’s cherry exports are growing fast: in 2024 over 800 hectares were in production. 60% go to the UK, followed by the EU and Middle East. China is the next frontier for 2026, with cold treatment protocols under evaluation to meet phytosanitary rules.
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