Just days before the opening of the ninth edition of Myplant, Italy’s largest trade fair for green professionals (February 19-21, 2025, Fiera Milano-Rho), the International Green Expo unveils key data on the sector at an international level.
These figures, however, do not fully address the need for information on Italian horticulture, an industry that is the result of several vital supply chains for Italy’s economy and the well-being of its citizens.
To go beyond the numbers and provide the most complete picture of the sector, analyzing data and also capturing the sentiments of companies and consumers, the First Report on Italian Horticulture will be presented at the opening of the fair.
This report, promoted by Coldiretti and Myplant, was created in collaboration with Centro Studi Divulga and Istituto Ixé.
While awaiting the report’s presentation, Myplant, as customary, shares a summary of the economic data for the sector both in Italy and internationally, based on the available official data (Istat, ITC, Aiph, Crea, Eurostat).
Italy
The record production value for Italy in 2023 has been confirmed (3.1 billion euros), and “Made in Italy” horticulture is projected to exceed 3.2 billion in 2024.
This represents the highest value ever, based on projections from 2024 data, reflecting a 3.5% increase over the previous year and a 30.8% growth over the past decade.
Italian export data is also encouraging, surpassing one billion euros in the first nine months of 2024 (+5.1% compared to the same period the previous year).
However, while the trade balance recorded a surplus of over 390 million euros, imports have seen a significant increase: 618 million euros, compared to 471 million in 2023 and 459 million in 2022.
The main buyers of Italian horticulture products globally are, in order: France (19.7% of the value of Italy’s exports in the first 9 months of 2024); the Netherlands (17.0%); Germany (16.4%); Switzerland (5.0%); and the United Kingdom (3.7%).
On the other side, the leading suppliers are: the Netherlands (72.0% of the value of Italy’s imports in the first 9 months of 2024); France (7.2%); Spain (6.2%); Germany (3.5%); and Greece (2.6%).
Volumes of international markets
The global production value of flowers, ornamental plants, and nurseries is estimated at 53.7 billion euros in 2024, broken down as follows: flowers and potted plants 24.6 billion euros, nurseries 29 billion euros, and 116 million euros for bulb production.
The global area dedicated to the cultivation of flowers and potted plants is 628,800 hectares, with over 29,000 hectares allocated to bulb plants, and over 1.1 million hectares used for nurseries.
The EU base price production value of flowers, ornamental plants, and nurseries is estimated at 24.5 billion euros, with the Netherlands (36.1%), Spain (15.9%), and Italy (13.3%) being the top three producers.
Import-export of cut flowers
In 2023, EU countries imported 4.1 billion euros worth of cut flowers (1.3 billion from the Netherlands, 1.2 billion from Germany, 242 million from Italy) and exported 5.2 billion euros worth (4.9 billion from the Netherlands, 135 million from Italy).
Among non-EU countries, the main importer of cut flowers is the USA (2.4 billion euros), while Colombia is the leading exporter (1.9 billion euros).
Import-export of potted plants
In 2023, EU countries imported 4.3 billion euros worth of potted plants, with Germany leading at 1.2 billion euros, and exported 6 billion euros worth, two-thirds of which came from the Netherlands.
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