Overview
Australia’s horticulture industry comprises fruit, vegetables, nuts, flowers, turf and nursery products. The industry operates in a highly competitive domestic and international market, is labour intensive and mostly seasonal. The horticulture industry also contributes significantly to the prosperity of people living in rural and regional Australia. In 2019-2020 the horticulture sector overall exceeded $15 billion in production value (Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbook 2019/20) and employed over 60,000 people.
Australia’s horticulture industry has long enjoyed a domestic and international reputation as a sustainable producer of premium safe food—primarily due to our high standards across all stages of the supply chain, from farm to consumer. It comprises mainly small-scale family farms—however, there is a growing trend towards medium to larger scale operations. Australian farmers continue to adjust their operations and adopt new technologies to respond to the opportunities and challenges of agricultural production in Australia including, increased competition from imported fresh and processed produce, market price pressures, challenging or adverse seasonal conditions.
The major horticulture growing areas in Australia include:
- Goulburn Valley of Victoria
- Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area of New South Wales
- Sunraysia district of Victoria and New South Wales
- Riverland region of South Australia
- northern Tasmania
- southwest Western Australia and
- the coastal strip of both northern New South Wales and Queensland.
Horticulture Products
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Fruit (2019-2020)
Source: Hort Innovation Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbooks 2019/20
- 98% of Australian households purchased fruit.
- 2.57 million tonnes of fruit grown in Australia.
- 515,435 tonnes of fresh fruit valued over $1.4 billion exported internationally.
- Over 1.47 million tonnes of fresh fruit valued over $4.7 billion grown and sold in Australia.
Top 3 Largest fruit crops 2019-2020
| Fruit | Major Producer |
|---|---|
| Oranges | New South Wales (51%) |
| Bananas | Queensland (94%) |
| Apples | Victoria (46%) |
Vegetables (2019-2020)
Source: Hort Innovation Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbooks 2019/20
- 3.69 million tonnes of fresh vegetables grown in Australia.
- 210,824 tonnes of fresh vegetables valued over $275 million exported internationally.
- Over 1.85 million tonnes of fresh vegetables valued over $4.2 billion grown and sold in Australia.
Top 3 Largest vegetable crops 2019-2020
| Vegetable | Major Producer |
|---|---|
| Potatoes | South Australia (38%) |
| Tomatoes | Queensland (57%) |
| Carrots | Western Australia (39%) |
Nuts (2019-2020)
Source: Hort Innovation Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbooks 2019/20
Tree nut crops grown throughout Australia include almonds, cashews, chestnuts, hazelnuts, macadamias, peanuts, pecans, pistachios and walnuts.
The Riverina and Northern Rivers regions of New South Wales are major producers of almonds, chestnuts, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans and walnuts. In Victoria, the Sunraysia, Swan Hill, central west and north eastern regions of Victoria produce almonds, chestnuts, hazelnuts and pistachios. Mount Hotham in Victoria produces a small amount of pine nuts. The Riverland and Adelaide Hills regions of South Australia produce chestnuts, walnuts and, in the Pinnaroo regions, a small amount of pistachios are grown. Queensland produces macadamias, pecan and cashews. The Swan Valley region of Western Australia produces almonds, chestnuts, and hazelnuts.
Tasmania produces a small amount of hazelnuts and walnuts.
- 54% of Australian households purchased nuts.
- 99,835 tonnes of Australian nuts were exported overseas with a value of over $942 million.
Top 3 Largest nut crops 2019-2020
| Nut | Major Producer |
|---|---|
| Almonds | Victoria (53%) |
| Macadamias | Queensland (54%) |
| Walnuts | New South Wales (80%) |
Flowers, turf & nursery (2019-2020)
Source: Hort Innovation Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbooks 2019/20
The flowers, turf and nursery parts of the horticulture sector have a significant role to play in the Australian economy generating more than $3 billion of production value in 2019-2020.
| Product | Major Producer |
|---|---|
| Nursery Products (plants) | Queensland, New South Wales & Victoria (88%) |
| Cut Flowers | Victoria (58%) |
| Turf | Queensland (43%) |
Statistics
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Production statistics
In 2019–20 Australian horticulture (excluding wine grapes) had a gross value of $12.16 billion, ranked third behind the meat and grain industries.
The major product groups had the following gross values of production in 2019–20:
- Fruit and Nuts: $5.41 billion
- Vegetables: $4.19 billion
- Nursery, cut flowers and cultivated turf: $1.71 billion
- Table and dried grapes: $586 million
Source: ABARES Agricultural commodities: June Quarter 2021 - Statistics
The production of major individual commodities in 2019–20 were:
| Commodity | Production (in kilo tonnes - kt) |
|---|---|
| Potatoes | 1,077 |
| Oranges | 383 |
| Tomatoes | 297 |
| Apples | 263 |
| Onions | 281 |
| Bananas | 372 |
| Carrots | 275 |
Source: ABARES Agricultural commodities: June Quarter 2021 – Statistics
Trade statistics
In 2019-20 the value of exported fresh and processed fruit, vegetables and nuts was over $3.1 billion. The export of fresh produce (particularly fruit) is limited by quarantine restrictions in a number of countries including Japan, USA, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan and mainland China.
In 2019–20 the value of imported seasonal fresh and processed fruit, nuts and vegetables was
$2.8 billion.
The largest suppliers of imported vegetables to Australia are South Korea (mushrooms), Mexico (asparagus), and China (garlic and onions). The value of exports of fresh vegetables amounted to more than twice the value of fresh vegetable imports in 2019-20.
The largest suppliers of imported fruits to Australia are New Zealand (kiwi fruit and avocados) and the USA (oranges and table grapes). The value of fresh fruit exports amounted to more than three times the value of fresh fruit imports in 2019-20.
Value (millions of dollars) of exports of horticultural commodities
| 2010–11 | 2013–14 | 2016–17 | 2019–20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit | 456 | 724 | 1,086 | 1,647 |
| Nuts | 211 | 610 | 820 | 1,017 |
| Vegetables | 296 | 268 | 354 | 481 |
| TOTAL | 963 | 1,602 | 2,260 | 3,145 |
(source: ABARES: Agricultural Commodity Statistics 2020)
Value (millions of dollars) of imports of horticultural commodities
| 2010–11 | 2013–14 | 2016–17 | 2019–20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit | 818 | 1,089 | 1,286 | 1,326 |
| Nuts | 245 | 346 | 478 | 489 |
| Vegetables | 686 | 871 | 1,002 | 1,179 |
| TOTAL | 1,749 | 2,306 | 2,766 | 2,994 |
(source: ABARES: Agricultural Commodity Statistics 2020)