Russia as a Subject of the World Market for Staple Tropical Fruits

Abstract

The production of tropical fruits and their supply to the world market is one of the spheres of employment for a significant part of the citizens of developing countries, a source of income for their families and foreign exchange earnings for the countries concerned. At the same time, for the countries that import them, they are currently an important element in meeting the needs of their population in fruit and berry products in terms of volumes, assortment and availability throughout the entire calendar year. The main tropical fruits are bananas, pineapples, avocados, mangoes, papaya. Considering that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has declared 2021 the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, the problem of identifying the importance of Russia as a subject of the world market for these types of fruit and berry products is of great importance. Within the framework of this study, statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations were used, on the basis of which for 1992-2019 changes in global production, global and Russian imports of major tropical fruits were analyzed. The shares of global imports in the global production of the types of fruit and berry products under consideration, the importance of Russia in their global physical and value imports were also calculated and characterized. In more detail, according to the official data of customs statistics, for 2020, the directions and volumes of imports to Russia and exports from Russia of the main types of tropical fruits are reflected. In the course of the study, it was revealed that in 1992-2019 the volumes of global production and international trade in these types of fruit and berry products increased, and the importance of Russia as their importer has significantly increased. The share of global imports of major tropical fruits in their global production also increased. As for the import of these types of fruit and berry products to Russia, there is a high concentration of one to three countries from which the tropical fruits come.