Belarus takes 84% of Poland's extra-EU pear exports in September
Poland shipped 1,675 tonnes of pears to Belarus in September 2026, about 84% of its 2,002 tonnes of pear exports to destinations outside the European Union. Extra-EU shipments fell roughly 19% year on year and are down about 64% from September 2023. Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Libya, Mongolia and Norway split the remaining volume.
Poland shipped 1,675 tonnes of pears to Belarus in September 2026, equivalent to about 84% of all Polish pear exports to destinations outside the European Union that month. The figures were published by the Polish horticultural outlet sad24.pl, citing data from Poland's State Plant Health and Seed Inspection Service.
Total Polish pear exports outside the EU came to 2,002 tonnes in September. Belarus therefore absorbed more than five times the combined volume of every other non-EU destination.
Buyers outside the single market
The September breakdown by destination was as follows:
- Belarus - 1,675 tonnes
- Kazakhstan - 156 tonnes
- Ukraine - 149 tonnes
- Libya - 20 tonnes
- Mongolia - 1.5 tonnes
- Norway - 130 kilogrammes
Kazakhstan and Ukraine each accounted for under 8% of the extra-EU total, while Libya, Mongolia and Norway together took around 21 tonnes, close to 1%. For practical purposes, Poland's pear trade beyond the EU border is a single-market business with a small Central Asian and Ukrainian tail.
Fourth consecutive year of contraction
Extra-EU shipments fell about 19% year on year, with September 2025 volumes at 2,485 tonnes. The decline is part of a longer trend: September exports outside the EU reached 3,058 tonnes in 2024 and 5,606 tonnes in 2023, meaning the channel has lost roughly 64% of its volume in three years.
The contraction has not changed the ranking of buyers. Belarus has remained the largest single destination for Polish pears throughout the period, and its share has risen as the wider non-EU channel narrowed.
The EU market still carries the crop
Total Polish pear export data for September 2026, including intra-EU shipments, was not yet available. For comparison, total exports in September 2025 were 5,466 tonnes, against 8,200 tonnes in September 2024 and 10,499 tonnes in September 2022. On the 2025 figures, deliveries inside the EU accounted for roughly 3,000 of the 5,466 tonnes shipped that month, more than half the total.
That makes the non-EU channel the smaller part of Poland's pear export book, but also the part where volumes have fallen fastest and where buyer concentration is highest.
Concentration risk for growers
sad24.pl noted that growth in Polish pear production could support a wider spread of export destinations, but added that the Belarusian market will retain key importance for a long time to come.
For Polish producers and exporters, the arithmetic is straightforward. No alternative non-EU outlet currently handles volumes anywhere near 1,675 tonnes a month, and the next two markets on the list, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, would need to grow roughly tenfold to replace Belarus. Any disruption to the Belarusian route, whether commercial, logistical or regulatory, would have to be absorbed by the EU internal market or at home in Poland.
The structure also shapes price formation. With one buyer taking 84% of the volume, prices in the non-EU channel are set in a narrow bilateral negotiation rather than across a spread of competing destinations. Diversification on the back of higher production would change that balance, but the September data shows it has not happened yet.
