Accredited official statistics

Horticulture statistics - 2023

Updated 12 August 2024

These statistics cover area, production, trade and valuation of horticulture crops in the United Kingdom from 1985 to 2023. The published data is available in the accompanying dataset; including estimated data for individual fruit and vegetable varieties and aggregated ornamental production.

Key Messages

• The value of home-produced vegetables increased by 10% to just under £1.9 billion in 2023, and the volume of home production decreased by 4.9% to 2.2 million tonnes. There was an increase of 12% in the value of field vegetables, at £1.5 billion (£155 million increase) whilst the value of protected vegetables increased by 3.7% to £374 million (£13 million increase).
• Home produced fruit has risen in value to just over £1 billion, an increase of 3.1% compared to 2022, with production volumes decreasing 12% to 585 thousand tonnes.
• UK ornamentals were worth £1.7 billion in 2023, an increase of 9.6% compared to 2022.

Figure 1 - Value of fresh fruit, vegetables, and ornamentals, 2022 and 2023 (£million)

Value	2022	2023
Vegetables	1692	1860
Fruit	1017	1048
Ornamentals	1538	1686

Key words

• Home produced - This relates to fruit, vegetables and ornamentals grown within the UK.
• Field vegetables -This refers to vegetables grown in the open; including roots, onions, brassicas and legumes.
• Protected vegetables - This refers to vegetables grown in a protected environment, glasshouse or polythene tunnel; including tomatoes and lettuce.
• Total Supply - This refers to overall availability of a crop; home produced + imports – exports = total supply.

Section 1 – Vegetables

1.1 Vegetable Production, supply and value.

Figure 1.1a Home produced vegetables as a percentage of total supply

Figure 1.1b Total Supply of Vegetables (thousand tonnes)

• Home production decreased by 4.9% to 2.2 million tonnes and the value increased by 10% to £1.9 billion.
• Total supply decreased by 1.8% to 4.2 million tonnes. Imports of vegetables increased by 0.8% to just under 2.1 million tonnes and exports decreased by 22% to 75 thousand tonnes.
• Home production of vegetables contributed to around 53% of the total UK supply in 2023, compared to 54% in 2022.

Areas for vegetables reduced by 6.5% at 101 thousand hectares. The start of the year was drier than expected enabling widescale drilling of carrots, onions and parsnips in the east of England. Crops drilled in this period produced better than average yield. A wet spring meant little was planted or drilled on land with lighter soil, it also made harvesting difficult, especially on the heavier soils. This significantly delayed the start of the season for most crops. In early summer the weather turned hot and dry, so that any crops established in this period favoured farmers with access to irrigation and those without struggled to get crops to germinate or grow. In July, the weather turned wet, and this persisted until the end of the year, causing harvesting and disease issues.

The planted area of brassicas decreased by 3.1% at 23 thousand hectares. Where conditions allowed for planting, the crops grew well as the colder, wetter conditions were favourable and this initially helped some of the crop to establish, following the hot, dry May and June. However, as the rain continued into autumn and winter, the water logging has significantly slowed growth, leading to reduced yields across the board.

Broccoli yields fell by 0.4% at 8.5 tonnes per hectare with market prices increasing by 4.3% at £2.43 per kg, the overall value of the crop rose to £107 million, a 0.2% decrease on 2022 values. Production fell by 1.4% at 63 thousand tonnes and the area planted reduced by 1.0% to 7,465 hectares.

Cauliflower yields fell by 9.2% at 8.1 tonnes per hectare, market prices increasing by 50% at £1.26 per head, the overall value of the crop increased by 33% to £75 million. Year on year the area planted fell by 1.1% to 8,754 hectares with overall production reducing by 10% to 71 thousand tonnes.

2023 has seen the lowest area of bulb onions planted for several decades at 7,349 hectares, mainly due to poor planting conditions in the spring and poor harvesting conditions in the autumn. Some growers started drilling in the dry weather at the start of the year and produced good yields, however those that had to wait (due to the prolonged rainfall in March and April) struggled to achieve satisfactory yields. The rain in the latter half of the growing season meant that onions were much larger than expected, with over all yields increasing by 13% to 38 tonnes per hectare. Overall production decreased by 3.6% to 283 thousand tonnes with the value increasing by 48% to £196 million and the average market price increasing by 54% to £0.81 per kg.

The value of the carrot crop increased by 21% to £211 million with the average market price rose by 36% at £0.67 per kg. Drilling and planting went well at the start of the year, with the crop that established in this period yielding more than average. The wet weather that followed in March and April hampered planting when most drilling and planting would normally take place. The later dry spell favoured farms with irrigation, without irrigation the carrot crop struggled with uniformity, with more out-of-specification crop and waste. Yields decreased by 7.2% to 65 tonnes per hectare, with the area increasing by 1.5% to just over 11 thousand hectares. Overall production fell by 6.4% to 734 thousand tonnes.

1.2 Field vegetables

Figure 1.2a Value of field vegetables

Figure 1.2b Production of field vegetables (thousand tonnes)

• Field vegetables increased in value by 12% to £1.5 billion in 2023.
• Production at 2 million tonnes was a decrease of 5.2% on 2022. The area used for field vegetables decreased by 6.6% to 100 thousand hectares.
• See tables 11 to 13 in the dataset for individual crop details of area, production and value for field vegetables.

Table 1.2 Field vegetable total value and production

Calendar Year	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023 (prov)	% Diff
Value (£ million)	1,178	1,312	1,295	1,331	1,486	12%
Production (million tonnes)	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.1	2.0	-5.2%

1.3 Protected vegetables

Figure 1.3a Value of protected vegetables (£ million)

Figure 1.3b Production of protected vegetables (thousand tonnes)

• The value of protected vegetables increased by 3.7% in 2023 to £374 million.
• Production of protected vegetables fell by 1.9% in 2023 to 235 thousand tonnes, with the area used increasing by 4.9%, at 710 hectares. This is the eighth year in a row where protected vegetable production has fallen since peak production in 2015 at 310 thousand tonnes.
• See tables 14 and 15 in the dataset for individual crop details of area, production and value for protected vegetables.

Table 1.3 Protected vegetable total value and production

Calendar Year	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023 (prov)	% Diff
Value (£ million)	350	364	388	361	374	3.7%
Production (million tonnes)	270	270	262	239	235	-1.9%

Section 2 – Fruit

2.1 Fruit Production, supply and value

Figure 2.1a Home produced fruit as a percentage of total supply

Figure 2.1b Total supply of fruit (thousand tonnes)

Dry weather at the start of the year gave growers the ability to raise polytunnels for soft fruit again this year. Soil conditions were good for planting strawberries, raspberries, and new orchards. Cold winds in early spring slowed crop development and delayed flowering of top and soft fruit. Cold, dull weather in May reduced crop potential and effected yields of all the top fruits. Harvesting of all fruit crops started slightly later than usual and regular periods of wet weather making harvesting difficult.

• Home production contributed 16% of the total UK supply of fruit in 2023, down from the 2022 figure of 17% (see table 2 and 10 in the dataset).
• The value of fruit production increased by 3.1% at just over £1 billion, with orchard fruit decreasing by 24% to £293 million and soft fruit increasing by 19% to £755 million.
• Fruit production fell by 12% to 585 thousand tonnes (663 thousand tonnes in 2022). With the area used reducing by 1.8% to 32 thousand hectares (see table 4 in the dataset).

Table 2.1 Fruit total value and production

Calendar Year	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023 (prov)	% Diff
Value (£ million)	903	1,045	922	1,017	1,048	3%
Production (million tonnes)	688	657	577	663	585	-12%

Figure 2.1c Value of fruit (£ million)

Figure 2.1d Production of fruit (thousand tonnes)

• The value of the strawberry crops (including glasshouse) increased by 11% to £471 million. Picking started a week or so later than 2022 in mid-May because of the cold winds. The hot weather at the end of May and in early June helped fruit growth with overall yields increasing by 11% to 22.8 tonnes per hectare. The cropped area remained largely static at 4.7 thousand hectares. Production was down 11% in 2023 to 106 thousand tonnes.
• Some raspberry crops showed frost damage on some canes when growth started in April and there was some cane death in June due to root disease. Picking commenced a week later than 2022 due to the cold spring. Early crops yielded better than expected with peak production occurring in August where fruit quality was good. The overall yield for 2023 was 7.3% lower than in 2022 at 11.5 tonnes per hectare, the area increased by 5.3% to 1.4 thousand hectares. The market price increased by 36% to £9.34 per kg and the overall value (including glasshouse) increased by 33% to £180 million.
• The value of orchard fruit decreased by 24% to £293 million and soft fruit (excluding glasshouse) increased by 21% to £696 million. The value of dessert apples decreased by £38 million to £152 million in 2023, a 20% increase on 2022.
• The value of culinary apples fell 61% in 2023 to £37 million, with market prices decreasing by 35% to £1.16 per kg and yields falling by 29% to 26 tonnes per hectare. Trees that had suffered from drought stress in 2022 had significantly less blossom in 2023. Cold winds during flowering in May adversely affected pollination and reduced crop potential. The area planted for culinary apples fell by 1.2% at 2.3 thousand hectares and total production reduced to 59 thousand tonnes a reduction of 30%.
• The area planted for Cox apples continues to diminish at 620 thousand hectares, 13% lower than 2022 (715 thousand hectares) and 69% lower than the area planted in 2010 (1,993 thousand hectares). Cox orchards continue to be grubbed as consumer demand decreases, which along with the lower potential yield when compared to the newer varieties (e.g. Gala, Braeburn) means the area is expected to continue to decline in future years.
• Total supply of fruit fell by 5.3% to 3.7 million tonnes in 2023, home production falling by 12% at 585 thousand tonnes and imports fell by 3.9% at 3.1 million tonnes.
• See tables 4 to 6 in the dataset for individual crop details of area, production and value for fruit.

Section 3 - Trade in fruit and vegetables

Table 3 Fruit and vegetable trade values and volumes

Calendar Year	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023 (prov)	% Diff
Imports value (£ million)
Veg Imports	2,576	2,552	2,370	2,372	3,100	13%
Fruit Imports	3,900	3,950	3,733	3,902	4,040	3.5%
Exports value (£ million)
Veg Exports	129	112	73	85	82	-4.6%
Fruit Exports	156	185	63	64	70	8.9%
Imports volume (‘000 tonnes)
Veg Imports	2,356	2,213	1,978	2,044	2,061	0.8%
Fruit Imports	3,657	3,564	3,327	3,277	3,148	-3.9%
Exports volume (‘000 tonnes)
Veg Exports	143	108	69	96	75	-22%
Fruit Exports	162	178	37	38	36	-4.0%

Source: HMRC

Figure 3a Imports of fruit and vegetables (£ million)

Year	Veg Imports	Fruit Imports
2019	2,576	3,900
2020	2,552	3,950
2021	2,370	3,733
2022	2,732	3,902
2023	3,100	4,040

Figure 3b Exports of fruit and vegetables (£ million)

Year	Veg Exports	Fruit Exports
2019	129	156
2020	112	185
2021	73	63
2022	85	64
2023	82	70

• Vegetable exports (including re-exports) were worth £82 million in 2023, 4.6% lower than 2022 whilst volumes decreased by 22% to 75 million tonnes.

• Vegetables imports cost £3.1 billion in 2023, a 13% increase on 2022 with volumes increasing by 0.8% at just over 2 million tonnes.

• Fruit exports (including re-exports) were worth £70 million in 2023, an 8.9% increase. Volumes of exports fell by 4.0% to 36 thousand tonnes.

• Fruit imports cost £4 billion in 2023, a 3.5% increase on 2022 with volumes decreasing by 3.9% at 3.1 million tonnes.

3.1 Imports to the UK by country of fruit and vegetables

3.1a Vegetable imports by country as percentage of total value

Country	%
Netherlands	7%
Morocco	7%
Spain	5.4%
Poland	4.9%
Egypt	4.8%

3.1b Fruit imports by country as percentage of total value

Country	%
Colombia	25%
Costa Rica	15%
Brazil	11%
Spain	7.9%
France	7.8%

Figure 3.1c Vegetable exports by country as a percentage of total value

Country	%
Irish Republic	21%
France	10%
Netherlands	7.5%
Begium	5.7%
Spain	5.4%

Figure 3.1d Fruit exports by country as a percentage of total value

Country	%
Irish Republic	10%
Netherlands	10%
Spain	7.5%
France	5.4%
Germany	4.7%

Section 4 – Ornamentals

Dry weather in January and February was welcomed by producers as good soil conditions helped to facilitate lifting and planting of stock. The prolonged wet weather and low summer temperatures temporarily impacted the growth of some field grown ornamentals though most caught up by the end of the growing season. The summer weather eased fears of another drought and associated hose pipe ban, making for a much easier growing season from an irrigation perspective.

• The value of production in the ornamental sector increased by 9.6% to £1.7bn between 2022 and 2023.
• In 2023, hardy nursery stock showed an 8.1% decrease in value at an estimated £1.2 billion.
• The pot plant sector saw an 16% increase in value at £330m.
• Flowers and bulbs showed an 8.5% increase in value at an estimated £179m.

Table 4 Value of ornamentals (£ million)

Calendar Year	2020	2021	2022	2023	% Diff
Flowers and Bulbs	127	129	165	179	8.5%
Pot Plants	283	325	285	330	16%
Hardy Ornamental Nursery Stock	984	1,108	1,088	1,177	8.1%
UK Total:	1,394	1,562	1,538	1,686	9.6%

• The value of ornamental imports cost £1.5 billion, a 5% decrease on 2022.
• Exports of ornamentals were worth £54 million in 2023, a 9.2% increase on 2022 (see tables 23 and 24 in the dataset for more details on imports and exports of ornamentals).

Section 5 – About these statistics

Methodology

Data presented in Horticulture Statistics publication are at United Kingdom level only.

For England and Wales, an external provider collects data on area, yield and production for Defra under contract. The members of the Fruit Crop Intelligence Committees were contacted individually for their information. The ADAS Fruit Key Convenor made direct contact with individual growers, Producer Organisations, ADAS colleagues, independent consultants, propagators and cider makers to gather confidential information on top fruit planting, grubbing and yields. This combination of the confidential information and the output of the Crop Intelligence Committee members has given a high level of assurance for the data collection methodology and summary data. For the field vegetables sector, the contractor continued to maintain our increased network of industry contacts and gained further additional key contacts, particularly in the South-West. These contacts cover key individual producers, packers and consultants, in all key vegetable sectors. For the ornamentals sector the contractor contacted a broad grower base that covers all sectors and targets larger companies, whilst ensuring that growers delivering across all market sectors (landscape, garden centres, DIY stores and retailers) were represented within the data.

For Scotland, the crop area data for fruit, vegetables and ornamentals come from the annual June Census. The latest edition of the Economic Report on Scottish Agriculture (ERSA), compiled by the Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services division (RESAS) in the Scottish Government (SG), includes information on the output and value of horticulture. Estimated prices use the previous year’s survey data adjusted by latest price data taken from the Glasgow Market price data. Yields and price data for strawberries and blackcurrants are derived from a postal survey of horticultural units. Yield data for other vegetables and orchard fruit uses data collected by Defra for crops grown in England and Wales.

For Northern Ireland, the Agricultural Census, which is an annual sample survey of farmers conducted in June, collects crop area data. Key industry contacts provide representative yield and farm-gate price data. These are compared across sources and against general trends and considering wider agronomic and market knowledge of each of the different sectors to ensure the data are credible and representative. Price data take into account the end use of the produce and any price differentials in order to derive a representative weighted annual average price. The volume of output takes into account marketings in each particular year so for crops such as apples where the crop is marketed over two years, it will take into account marketings from two seasons for each particular calendar year. Emphasis is placed on data for the main high value items with mushrooms being the main contributor and driver for horticulture. In this case data are obtained directly from industry and represent 75 per cent of total mushroom production.

Trade data are sourced by Defra through HM Revenue and Customs import and export records. Detailed commodity codes are used to identify specific categories.

Impartial intelligence gathered from a wide range of sources provides the evidence to make the estimates in this document. The associated meta-data and methodology provides more details.

Quality

The data are collected and collated along sector lines by specialist horticultural consultants, who are knowledgeable of the crops and various production methods for each sector. Standard operating procedures are in place for collecting and recording the data. In addition to the broad method which sources and compares information from different origins, estimates are compared against other official survey data figures where possible e.g. Defra June Survey. The figures are also checked for consistency and trend analysis against historic data. Quality assurance of the data is carried out by the project manager and a dedicated quality control manager. The list of growers and other contacts is regularly reviewed and maintained to ensure that it is kept up to date. Panel membership relevant to fruit data collection is kept under review to assist maintenance of up-to-date knowledge of the crops being reported. In addition, an annual narrative highlighting the main factors that have affected crop areas and harvested production is provided to explain and justify the estimates, including any significant variation in yields, production and shifts in cropping area.

Due to the way in which the data are sourced, it is not possible to calculate standard errors or confidence intervals. The general target coverage in terms of area grown is to obtain cropping information based on at least 80% of the latest Defra published figure for horticulture. For crops where production is more dispersed i.e. grown by a relatively large number of smaller growers, this can be challenging, in such cases, greater reliance is placed on information on sources other than just the key growers.

Revisions policy

Figures in the statistical notice and datasets for the latest year reported are provisional and subject to revision. We will provide information about any revisions we make to previously published information in the statistical notice, and the associated datasets. Revisions could occur for various reasons, including when data from third parties is unavailable or provisional at the time of publishing.

Revisions

The 2022 figures are now final estimates. From previously published figures changes made to the trade data, both imports and exports, for fruit, vegetables and ornamentals. 2023 revisions have been made to the vegetable area data to reflect the new definition of ‘planted area’ , see section 7 below.

Data users

The UK government use these statistics to support policy makers and improve profitability of the horticulture sector, to monitor productivity and competitiveness including supply and self-sufficiency, to inform growers and the trade about markets, to assess the impact of disease outbreaks, e.g. E-coli.

Future publications

This is an annual release. The next release will be in June 2025.

Section 6 - What you need to know about this release

This section ensures any important information is clearly explained so users do not misunderstand the data.

Contact details

Responsible statistician: Lisa Brown

Email: [email protected]

Media enquiries: 0330 041 6560

Public enquiries: 020 802 66340

Accredited Official Statistics Status

Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. An explanation can be found on the Office for Statistics Regulation website.

These statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in 2014. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

Since the latest review by the Office for Statistics Regulation, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics and have enhanced data quality by reviewing methodologies and data sources.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards (see contact details above). Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing [email protected] or via the OSR website.

Section 7 - Glossary

• Planted Area (hectares) - This relates to the ‘planted’ area on which the crops are actually grown - excluding hedgerows etc. and excludes multi cropping. This area relates to the June survey area. In the case of orchards, it relates to the ‘tree’ area rather than the field area (this is in line with the Orchard Fruit Survey).
• Marketable Yield (tonnes per hectare) - This relates to the average tonnage actually harvested per planted hectare taking into account any waste losses (post-harvest). Wastage relates to any post-harvest item for which no income is obtained, such as storage losses, including both weight loss and rots.
• Marketable Production (tonnes) - The total figure for the harvested crop is derived from the planted area multiplied by harvested yield taking into account wastage figures (post-harvest).
• Multi Cropping - The cultivation of more than one crop on the same piece of land in one year. Multi-cropping is taken into account when calculating production and value. Multi cropping is not reflected in the areas.
• Farm-gate prices (in £/tonne) or value based on farm-gate price - The price the farmer is paid for his produce with no extra delivery or packaging costs.