The world’s rose area is decreasing every year. Over the past five years, the decrease was 27%. There are about 1,700 hectares of roses in Europe at the moment.
In cooperation with rose breeders, Royal FloraHolland has mapped the worldwide rose production. This investigation provides insight in the rose area per country, the developments and the sales flows.
There are about 1,700 hectares of roses in Europe at the moment. There is still an average of 200 hectares of roses per country in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy. High energy costs, legislation and the low prices for imported roses affect the production.
In 2004, the Netherlands still had about 850 hectares of rose production, which decreased to 238 hectares in 2016. Rose growers stop their activities or change to a different crop. The largest decrease took place in Italy, where the production was a lot higher ten years ago. This decreased significantly due to the low prices of imported roses. However, the rose production will never entirely leave Europe because of the good quality, many cultivars and innovation.
The rose import in Europe still increases every year, especially with roses from Africa. In 2016, about 65% of the imported roses comes from Kenya and Ethiopia.
Largest rose production in India
The world’s largest rose production is in India, where they grow a lot of different cultivars. Indians use flowers for different goals, such as decoration for weddings, garlands to welcome someone and as sacrifice in temples.
China has the second largest rose area. Both countries mainly grow roses for own use. Only a small part is exported.
Efficient production in Africa
The largest production countries of Africa are Kenya and Ethiopia. The Ethiopian production increased because of the low labour costs and the motivating investment policy. Company processes improved, companies modernised and the quality increased. Other African production countries are Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa.
The Netherlands and Colombia are the most important export countries. The Netherlands has been an important market for years. A lot of roses are supplied at Royal FloraHolland. The largest export countries for the Netherlands are Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
Another important export flow is from Colombia to the United States. About 70% of the Colombian rose production finds its way to the United States (US), where the sales is arranged via the different purchase channels. Roses are one of the most popular flowers in the US and are mainly bought in the supermarket and at the florist’s.
