Production of vegetables and fruit exceeded 35,000 tonnes in 2019

Statistics compiled by the National Statistics Office show that vegetables and fruit production during 2019 exceeded to 35,000 tonnes, with 93.5% registered as vegetables, while the remainder was fruit.

According to the regional statistics, the wholesale value exceeded €22 million in 2019 of which 86.9% was generated through the sale of vegetables.

The NSO said that in 2019, on a regional level, Malta produced 90.7% of the total vegetable tonnage, amounting to €17.5 million, while the Gozo and Comino areas registered 9.3% of the total tonnage at a total value of almost €2 million. With regard to fruits, Malta produced 86.3 % of the total regional tonnage in 2019, having a total value of €2.7 million with the remaining 13.7% produced in the Gozo and Comino.

Livestock in Malta amounted to 68 226, of which 52% were pigs, followed by cattle, sheep and goats at 20.5%, 19.3% and 8.2% respectively.

In addition, ‘on a regional level, in 2019, the Malta region registered 92.3% of the total number of pigs, 76% of the total number of goats, 69% of the total number of sheep and 64.2% of the total number of cattle, while the remaining were registered in the Gozo and Comino region.

The Western district has the highest concentration of pigs, while dairy cow, cattle, sheep and goat concentrations were predominantly registered in the Gozo and Comino district.

In terms of fishing, when observing the distribution of fish caught in Malta during 2019, the Pacific chub mackerel was the heaviest at 22.3% of total volume.

“The Malta region was the main contributor in terms of total fish landings. In 2019, all the European pilchard originated from the Malta region. Overall, the contribution of fish landings originating from the Gozo and Comino region amounted to 9.5% of total.”

“In MALTA, the Swordfish was the classification which registered the highest value, accounting to €3.4 million or 29.4% of the total fish value, followed by the “Other” category at €2.6 million. overall, the share of fish value originating from Gozo and Comino landings accounted for 9.3$ of the total.”