The Season of Pumpkins

This is the time of year when pumpkins and gourds are harvested in the EU and when they are particularly popular both for cooking delicious dishes and decorating homes, as well as for carving spooky lanterns.

According to Eurostat data, in 2020 approximately 31,000 hectares in the EU were under pumpkins and gourds, and approximately 760,000 tonnes were harvested.

Around 85% of all pumpkins and gourds in the European Union were produced in only five Member States in 2020: Poland (163,900 tonnes), Spain (143,850 tonnes), France (126,230 tonnes), Portugal (121,060 tonnes) and Germany (86,890 tonnes).

For comparison, in 2016 Bulgaria ranked first in pumpkin production in the European Union with a record 133 thousand tonnes of pumpkins and gourds harvested from almost 12 thousand hectares. This overproduction of pumpkins was due to the so‑called coupled support scheme, which was amended in 2017 and from which three crops were removed – pumpkins, peas and green beans.

Code Orange

Imports and exports

As regards imports and exports, they are smaller in volume compared with production. In 2020, 48,841 tonnes of pumpkins and gourds were imported into the EU, which is 57% more compared with 2019. The highest share of imports in 2020 was from South Africa (24%), followed by Morocco (12%), Brazil (11%) and Argentina (10%).

In 2020, the EU exported 22,614 tonnes of pumpkins and gourds to non‑EU countries, 4% more compared with 2019. These exports were mainly destined for *the United Kingdom (69%) and Switzerland (18%).

Among the EU Member States, Spain exported the largest quantity of pumpkins and gourds to non‑EU countries (48%) in 2020, followed by Portugal (25%), France (11%) and the Netherlands (6%).

Technology for growing common, white and muscat pumpkin

*The United Kingdom is considered a non‑EU partner country of the EU for the entire period covered by the Eurostat information. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom remained part of the internal market until the end of the transition period (31 December 2020), which means that the trade data with the United Kingdom are based on the statistical concepts applicable to trade between EU Member States.

In practice, this means that goods imported into the EU from the United Kingdom were physically transported from the United Kingdom, but some of these goods originated in countries other than the United Kingdom. For this reason, trade data with the United Kingdom are not fully comparable with trade data for other non‑EU trading partners.