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Flowers: Imports

Volume 456: debated on Tuesday 6 February 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total (a) volume and (b) value of flowers imported into the UK was in each year since 1997, broken down by country of origin. (118701)

The following tables show the volume and value of flowers imported into the UK each year since 1997 broken down by country of origin as recorded in the Official Trade Statistics. Data for 2006 are included up to November.

The Netherlands has consistently been the largest supplier of flowers imported into the UK over this period of time.

PQ 1320: UK imports of cut flowers1 for 1997 to November 2006—Volume

Tonnes

Country

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Jan-Nov 2006

Netherlands

52,669

69,630

69,706

73,991

75,790

155,018

176,699

155,585

114,056

94,066

Kenya

5,223

4,871

6,735

8,129

10,183

11,221

11,792

16,989

18,650

16,509

Colombia

9,614

9,110

8,525

9,192

8,017

7,667

10,271

9,212

9,037

9,453

Spain

6,947

8,422

11,769

9,589

11,341

10,813

9,333

9,416

6,289

5,264

Turkey

3,542

3,899

3,899

2,772

3,146

3,145

3,097

3,430

2,441

2,081

USA

956

1,058

1,180

893

704

1,103

783

597

875

237

Israel

1,620

1,100

1,280

963

537

464

576

372

605

577

Belgium

1,767

643

1,289

876

814

1,043

701

278

Italy

1,541

1,313

794

724

638

568

478

479

417

251

Morocco

1,025

713

788

835

840

664

524

494

374

380

South Africa

159

103

113

85

145

138

201

805

1,318

508

Ecuador

60

83

170

280

222

271

434

500

528

449

Germany

292

242

162

86

242

427

307

542

247

244

France

1,209

553

518

22

39

42

40

38

36

85

Denmark

208

57

51

58

316

462

539

578

136

57

Belgium- Luxembourg

717

1,499

Zimbabwe

456

208

209

176

216

274

280

179

24

Costa Rica

20

34

57

122

218

187

248

171

258

401

Austria

136

2

6

233

636

680

Irish Republic

112

140

37

11

18

432

347

217

334

29

India

232

106

57

70

77

111

209

147

255

207

Thailand

191

151

121

101

101

99

100

88

126

110

Zambia

39'

108

39

31

1

94

206

102

83

Uganda

8

24

21

13

101

71

112

142

134

27

China

4

8

14

39

31

69

61

126

149

28

Poland

74

60

25

72

18

41

16

16

1

Ethiopia

13

11

2

1

17

49

130

Philippines

8

14

11

2

27

4

105

34

Taiwan

0

1

0

0

2

6

113

Sri Lanka

0

3

4

8

7

32

39

23

Peru

1

1

4

3

6

1

3

17

21

25

Brazil

7

4

16

5

9

22

14

4

All other countries

199

95

111

100

104

105

162

58

76

62

1Cut flowers and flower buds of a kind suitable for bouquets or for ornamental purposes, fresh, dried, dyed, bleached, impregnated or otherwise prepared.

PQ 1320: UK imports of cut flowers1 for 1997 to November 2006—Value

£000

Country

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Jan-Nov 2006

Netherlands

191,930

225,936

239,762

263,408

306,544

433,622

437,683

408,719

402,759

381,944

Kenya

13,825

14,069

19,773

22,889

31,859

35,171

35,078

46,112

51,842

49,038

Colombia

31,597

31,332

28,645

29,898

27,719

25,298

28,716

23,349

27,272

31,236

Spain

20,614

21,006

17,833

17,125

23,565

26,998

25,019

22,658

13,038

16,714

Turkey

6,595

6,761

6,019

3,376

3,797

4,374

4,121

5,076

4,180

3,775

Israel

7,240

3,991

3,913

3,713

2,180

1,885

2,309

1,465

2,571

2,519

Italy

7,289

4,357

2,714

2,606

2,591

2,692

2,327

2,377

2,111

1,642

Belgium

2,376

3,774

5,487

4,744

3,889

4,651

3,299

1,359

USA

3,614

3,938

4,165

3,206

2,965

3,870

2,644

1,762

2,640

687

Morocco

1,755

1,298

1,395

1,460

1,284

688

598

832

742

775

Ecuador

197

212

321

754

705

866

1,278

1,411

1,504

1,459

Denmark

99

75

202

180

115

3,139

2,145

1,841

520

259

South Africa

434

255

203

188

303

287

507

1,991

2,899

1,353

Germany

456

696

519

200

916

1,306

1,126

1,463

862

704

Belgium- Luxembourg

3,088

4,493

Zimbabwe

1,755

866

936

710

846

952

357

301

47

Thailand

2,584

825

470

431

435

393

389

290

422

410

Irish Republic

408

355

159

65

132

900

1,193

845

1,283

96

Costa Rica

34

64

111

307

597

467

507

298

510

861

India

563

259

114

113

131

239

508

344

617

541

France

739

1,004

123

94

132

240

259

239

162

134

Austria

363

7

26

166

805

656

Uganda

45

94

61

53

333

241

365

367

374

78

Zambia

150

406

129

63

4

255

553

232

212

China

14

25

41

119

184

96

134

447

389

108

Taiwan

2

7

1

8

13

38

383

Ethiopia

20

15

4

6

82

187

444

Philippines

43

31

28

5

48

10

260

103

Poland

128

36

24

76

27

152

34

13

2

Sri Lanka

2

15

16

26

30

131

164

84

Brazil

57

13

23

44

65

97

31

11

Peru

2

5

20

16

27

3

9

55

71

86

All other countries

519

289

334

313

374

341

433

213

278

258

© Crown Copyright 1Cut flowers and flower buds of a kind suitable for bouquets or for ornamental purposes, fresh, dried, dyed, bleached, impregnated or otherwise prepared.

Note: 2006 data are subject to amendments. Source: H M Revenue and Customs Data prepared by Trade Statistics, Agricultural Statistics and Analysis Division, DEFRA.