Spain forecasts 5.74 million tonnes of citrus for 2026/27, up 1.1% on decade-low season
Spain's citrus sector round table puts the initial 2026/27 crop estimate at 5,744,841 tonnes, 1.1% above the previous campaign but 4.2% below the five-year average. Oranges fall 4.6% to 2.8 million tonnes, while lemons recover 21% to 991,800 tonnes and grapefruit sets a third consecutive record above 110,000 tonnes.
Spain expects to harvest 5,744,841 tonnes of citrus in the 2026/27 campaign, which began on 1 September, according to the initial crop estimate drawn up from data supplied by the main producing regions and presented at the sector round table, as reported by Fruit Today. The figure is 1.1% higher than the 2025/26 season, which closed as the weakest harvest of the past decade, but it still sits 4.2% below the average of the previous five campaigns.
Oranges remain the largest block but lose volume
Orange output is put at 2.8 million tonnes, 4.6% less than in the previous campaign. Oranges again account for the largest share of Spanish citrus, at 49% of total volume, and navel-group varieties make up 72% of the expected orange crop. For exporters, that concentration means the commercial calendar for the first half of the season continues to hinge on a category that is contracting rather than growing.
Small citrus is forecast at 1.8 million tonnes, 0.8% above the previous season and 4.5% below the five-year average, representing 32% of the national total. Within the group, clementines account for 47.3% and satsumas for 5.6%, the latter growing from an unusually low 2025/26 base. Other mandarins and hybrids make up the remaining 47.1%, with a 19% increase on 2025/26 — the clearest sign in this estimate of the ongoing shift in the varietal mix toward later and seedless hybrid material.
Lemons and grapefruit drive the overall increase
The lemon crop recovers to 991,800 tonnes, 21% or 172,900 tonnes more than last season and 3% or 29,000 tonnes above the five-year average, although Fruit Today notes the figure remains below the sector's potential. Fino accounts for 76% of the expected volume and Verna for 23%. Grapefruit is set to break its record for a third consecutive year with more than 110,000 tonnes, 4.7% above 2025/26. Together, these two categories carry the aggregate increase, offsetting the decline in oranges.
- Total citrus: 5,744,841 tonnes, up 1.1%
- Oranges: 2.8 million tonnes, down 4.6%, 49% of the total
- Small citrus: 1.8 million tonnes, up 0.8%, 32% of the total
- Lemons: 991,800 tonnes, up 21% (+172,900 tonnes)
- Grapefruit: more than 110,000 tonnes, up 4.7%
Water supply helped, summer heat cut expectations
According to the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA), the campaign benefited from good water availability following rainfall recorded over winter and spring. High summer temperatures, however, caused fruit drop that trimmed the initial harvest expectations, with the effect concentrated in oranges and clementines — the two categories that show the weakest year-on-year performance in the estimate.
The round table also reviewed market prospects, the evolution of foreign trade, promotion programmes for the sector, and the plant health situation, with particular attention to citrus vein chlorosis virus. As an initial estimate published at the start of the campaign, the 5.7 million-tonne figure is a working baseline rather than a settled outcome: the split between a shrinking orange crop, a broadly flat small-citrus segment and a sharply larger lemon supply is what will shape availability, pricing windows and export programming through to the end of the season.
