Eggplant exports from Spain’s Almería province reached €252.9 million in the August 2025–July 2026 season, the highest seasonal value reported for the province in a new analysis by Hortoinfo, published on 14 October 2026. The report calculates that 150.24 million kilograms were exported from Almería, representing 83.93% of Spain’s total eggplant export volume in the same period.
Hortoinfo based its analysis on ICEX ESTACOM customs statistics for fresh or chilled aubergines under TARIC product code 070930. The reporting period runs from 1 August 2025 through 31 July 2026, not the calendar year. The figures describe export trade, not the income or profit earned by greenhouse growers.
Almería accounts for most of Spain’s shipments
Across Spain, Hortoinfo puts seasonal eggplant exports at 179.02 million kilograms with a declared value of €299.98 million. That represents an average export unit value of approximately €1.68 per kilogram. The analysis gives Almería a similar average unit value, alongside its much larger share of overall volume.
Barcelona was a distant second with 10.57 million kilograms, or 5.91% of Spain’s eggplant exports by volume. Murcia shipped 5.2 million kilograms (2.9%) and Valencia 4.55 million kilograms (2.54%), according to the same report. Hortoinfo also estimates that Almería’s exported volume was 32.91% higher than ten growing seasons earlier.
What the trade figures do — and do not — show
Almería’s concentration of protected vegetable production makes these trade numbers relevant to greenhouse supply chains, exporters and buyers comparing Spain’s producing regions. The unusually large provincial share indicates where much of the country’s reported eggplant export business is concentrated. It does not identify the market destinations, individual exporters, farm profitability or the proportion grown under glass or plastic.
ICEX describes ESTACOM as a statistical service that can report Spanish merchandise trade by product, province, month, quantity and value. The specific seasonal provincial figures cited above are Hortoinfo’s published calculations from that service; they should not be confused with a separately audited financial report on farm businesses.
Implications for greenhouse businesses
For greenhouse operators and their suppliers, the report provides a crop-specific benchmark for export concentration and declared trade value. It cannot, on its own, establish stronger grower margins: freight, packing, intermediaries, production costs and farmgate selling prices are not measured by these export totals. Changes in value should therefore be read alongside crop production, prices and costs before drawing investment conclusions.
Key takeaways
- Hortoinfo calculates a record €252.9 million of Almería eggplant exports during August 2025–July 2026.
- The province accounted for 150.24 million kilograms, or 83.93% of Spain’s reported export volume.
- Export value is a trade measure, not a calculation of growers’ revenue, margins or greenhouse growing area.
Featured image: eggplant plants in a Niagara College greenhouse in Canada, illustrating the crop rather than any Almería farm. Photo: Gogerr / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
