Australian Horticulture is a significant and growing contributor to the Australian economy. Its production value is currently around A$6.9 billion (incl Nursery and Nuts). Export demand is growing strongly over the long term and in 2007 exports of horticultural products were valued at A $756m. Although the domestic market absorbs some 85% of horticultural production, the rate of growth of production is increasing faster than that of domestic demand, supporting further export development.

The industry includes:

• Vegetables - 3.5m tonnes, worth $A 2.2bn
  • Mainly potatoes, tomatoes, onions, lettuce....
• Fresh Fruit - 1.9m tonnes worth $A 3.5bn
  • Citrus, Apples, Summerfruit, Pears, Table Grape....
• Dried Fruit - $A 8.1m
  • Apricots, Sultanas, Prunes....
• Nuts - 61,000 tonnes worth  $138m
  • Macadamias, Almonds, Pecans, Pistachios....
• Nursery & other - $A 773m
  • Ornamental plants, cut flowers, turf....

Source: ABS data 2006, HAL analysis

The horticulture industry is primarily in coastal areas and along the irrigated river valleys with good access to water

Australian exports have increased steadily during the past decade and driven particularly by fruit produce. The following graphs show the relative strength of the product shares that is dominated by citrus, macadamia nuts, table grape and then summerfruit and provides an indication of the seasonality of Australian fresh produce.

Horticulture Export shares 2006/7

To obtain more information on our fresh produce industries, please click on the following links:

• Almonds
• Apples and Pears
• Avocado
• Citrus
• Custard Apple
• Dried Fruit
• Lychee
• Mangoes
• Table Grape
• Summerfruit/Stonefruit