Increasing Garlic Production in Hungary

Last year, 5,611 tons of garlic were harvested from 829 hectares in Hungary, 8% more than the previous year, according to a summary by the Hungarian Agricultural Economics Institute (AKI). This year, the head size of garlic has become smaller due to drought, but the quality of the harvest is good.

According to Central Statistical Office data, the area under garlic and the garlic harvest have been on a downward trend, with yields ranging between 5.2 and 7.9 thousand tons over the past five years.

Garlic imports increased by 19% to 1.87 thousand tons between January and August this year compared to the same period last year. Imports from Spain grew by 153% (1.31 thousand tons) than a year earlier, while garlic imports from the Netherlands were 82% less (73 tons).

Exports are between 400-680 tons per year, mainly to neighboring countries. Garlic exports in the first eight months of this year fell 41% year-on-year to 272 tons, according to the publication.

AKI points out that, according to Eurostat data, Spain and the Netherlands sell the most fresh garlic on the EU internal market, lagging behind by orders of magnitude. Compared to last year, Spain and the Netherlands shipped 5% less garlic (67.7 thousand tons and 17.5 thousand tons respectively) in the first eight months of 2022.