According to local media the share of banana exports in Asia of the Philippines, the world's second largest banana exporter, continues to shrink. Heavily contested from other Asian countries, the Philippines' share of banana exports in Asia fell to 60 percent from 90 percent last year.

Philippine banana exports fell 37 percent to 2.4 million mt from 3.8 million mt last year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). In previous years, 90% of Asia's total banana exports came from the Philippines, which is the world's second largest banana exporter after Ecuador.

Filipino bananas

According to the FAO report, Philippine banana production continues to suffer from the "combined impact" of the coronavirus pandemic and banana Panama disease, resulting in "severe" production difficulties. At the same time, the local production environment in the Philippines is deteriorating due to hurricane damage and higher input costs for planting, which has a major impact on small-scale banana producers.

China and Japan have long been major exporters of Philippine bananas, but both have significantly reduced orders from small-scale producers due to banana quality issues.

In addition to local production in the Philippines, the Philippines' share of banana exports in Asia is also challenged by Ecuador, Vietnam, Cambodia and India. The export volume of the above countries achieved significant growth in 2021.

China is the world's third-largest banana importer, with total banana imports in 2021 increasing by 5.2% year-on-year to 1.9 million tonnes, accounting for 10% of the global total. The Philippines' share of China's banana market has shrunk to 45% from 50-75% in previous years. In 2021, China imported