Italy still world leader amongst pear producers

INTERPERA 2010, the Third World Pear Congress confirms Italy's status as a world leader in this important sector of fruit cultivation.

The major producing regions are Asia, with China ranked first in the world amongst the producer countries; Europe, with Italy as the world's second-largest producer; and the Americas, with the USA in third place in the world rankings.

China alone accounts for over 60% of world production thanks to an output in excess of 13 million tons. Fortunately, most of Chinese output is destined for the domestic market, but in recent years exports have grown to almost 400,000 tons, which indicates an evident upward trend.

Average output in North America exceeds 800,000 tons, while pear-growing in South America is concentrated in two countries – Argentina and Chile – which together account for 92% of South American production.

Italy is the world's second-largest and Europe's largest pear-grower, producing over 860,000 tons on average, which is around 35% of total European output. Spain accounts for over 20% of European pear output, but this share is in decline and recent production figures have fallen below 500,000 tons. The Netherlands and Belgium account for shares of around 9-10% and rising.

An overview of global pear production and sales indicates around 21 million tons of output, which ranks pears in second place in terms of volume after apples, ranked first, and before peaches, ranked third.