Romania: Value of food imports up 11% compared to last year

The difference in value between Romania's imports and exports of food products reached almost 500 mi…

The difference in value between Romania's imports and exports of food products reached almost 500 million Euro. This is 7 times more than in the same period last year. The situation is even more worrying considering that the situation in 2013 and 2014 was exactly the opposite, with more local food sold than imported products.

In the first 7 months of this year, Romania imported food worth 3.5 billion Euro; this is 11 percent more than in the same period last year.

Anca Aron, an economist, stated that "this situation is not something desirable for the economy. We expect inflation to remain below the 2.5% target set by the National Bank in the context of lower import prices."

The situation for fruits and vegetables is not particularly good, and this is blamed on the lack of producers' associations.

Imports grow even more in winter, when only a third of all fresh food products sold in Romanian stores come from domestic producers.

Achim Irimescu, Minister of Agriculture, stated that "Romania has a disadvantage due to high energy costs, and given that Romania is much colder than other countries, production in greenhouses is very limited or almost non-existent. Romanian products like apples can be kept in warehouses to be sold up to a year after the harvest, and a number of vegetables, like carrots and onions, are usually available."

It is worth noting that Poland produces a quarter of all the apples in the EU, while Romania accounts for just 3.6%, according to Eurostat.