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Greece: Spectacular Consolidation of Exports

16/06/2025

François-Xavier Branthôme
Greece,
Antartica
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Since our previous review of the Greek trade balance for tomato products, the performance of this sector has largely confirmed the spectacular recovery we noted in May 2023: the balance of trade in tomato pastes and canned tomatoes is very positive, while the balance of the sauce sector maintains a "background" deficit of a few thousand tons each year (5,000 tons on average over the last six years).
 
This negative item remains negligible compared to the tonnages generated by foreign sales of tomato pastes: up 29% compared to the average of the last three years (around 35,000 tons), the impressive result of the 2024 balance (nearly 45,000 tons) is part of a somewhat irregular growth dynamic that began in 2019; this growth is based almost exclusively on European markets in the broadest sense of the term, which constitute the historical basis of Greek foreign trade.
Compared with the average results of the previous three years (2021-2023), the main areas of growth in Greece's tomato pastes’ surplus in 2024 (+12,600 t) were in the Western EU markets (Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands, etc.) and non-EU Europe (+4,400 t, mainly in the United Kingdom), while Eastern EU markets (Cyprus, Poland, etc.) recorded a significant decline (-5,300 t); most other regions recorded only minimal variations, with the exception of the Middle East (-1,300 t, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates) and Mediterranean Africa: in the latter case, the deficit recorded last year (-2,230 t) by Greece's balance with this region confirms the emergence of a modest flow of products from Egypt.

For the current fiscal year, the first quarter results so far confirm the trend observed for almost two years: nearly 18,000 tonnes of tomato paste were exported by Greek companies between January 1 and March 31, 2025, a 69% increase over the first quarter of 2024 (10,600 tonnes), which was itself 35% higher than the first quarter of 2023 (7,800 tonnes) (see additional information at the end of the article).

Similarly positive momentum has driven the Greek canned tomatoes balance in recent years; after an irregular progression that brought the Greek surplus from around 6,000 t in 2000 to over 23,000 t in 2019, the external activity of the world's fourth-largest exporter in the sector has grown significantly over the past four years, posting a surplus balance of 51,000 t in 2022, before returning to around 40,000 t in 2024.
The trade sphere for canned tomatoes is the same as that for pastes, very focused on Europe, both within and outside the EU. The Greek balance of canned tomatoes only shows significant deficits with Italy and Turkey, and, in parallel with the decline in activity recorded over the past two years on the Polish, Swedish, Dutch, German, and Norwegian markets, Greek products have significantly increased on the British market. The Greek canned tomato surplus decreased by 8,300 t (-17%) in 2024 compared to the average of the previous three years (48,800 t).
The quantities mobilized for the tomato sauces and ketchup sector are comparatively much smaller than those for concentrates and canned tomatoes, and in this case, this is a sector for which Greece is a net importer: quantities have increased significantly since 2000 but have also varied considerably in recent years.
A temporary and marginal exporter of sauces to Japan, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Albania, Romania, and France, Greece has a net deficit in its tomato sauces balance, which last year reached almost -5,200 t. The Greek sauces and ketchup market is supplied by Italian, Dutch, Spanish, and Turkish products, and, to a lesser extent, Belgian and German.
Ultimately, the Greek trade balance for tomato products showed a surplus of €74 million in 2024, up 35% from the 2023 figure (€54.7 million) and 40% from the average annual surplus of the previous three years (€53 million). Last year, tomato paste and canned tomatoes contributed €52 million and €35 million, respectively, while sauces posted a deficit of €13 million.
 
The Greek tomato processing industry has a significant surplus with seven of the 137 countries it supplies: all sectors combined, the United Kingdom's supply "bill" for Greek tomato products last year amounted to nearly €41 million; Germany's expenditure exceeded €12 million, Sweden's €11 million; Belgium spent more than €10 million on Greek tomato products, followed by Cyprus (less than €5 million), Austria, and Norway (less than €4 million).
Conversely, Greece imported products worth nearly €3 million from Egypt, Spain (also €3 million), Turkey (over €3 million), and Italy (€15 million).
Detailed results are available upon request from the TomatoNews team.

Some additional data
Comparative evolution of monthly Greek exports of tomato pastes in recent years (monthly publication on the Tomato News website).

Quarterly changes in exported quantities of tomato paste.
Trends in quantities of tomatoes processed by the Greek industry since 1989.
Source: TDM