Brazil climbs into top five global lemon exporters

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) highlights that Brazil has become increasingly relevant in the international lemon trade and now ranks among the top five exporters. In the first half of this year, the country exported 106.7 thousand tonnes of the fruit, a record and an 18.17% increase compared with the same period last year.

See below a history of Brazilian lemon exports from January to July 2022 to 2025. The chart was prepared using DataLiner data.

Brazilian Lemon Exports | Jan–Jul 2022–2025 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (Click here to request a demo)

The world’s leading exporter is Mexico, followed by Turkey, then South Africa and Egypt. “In the United Kingdom, Brazilian lemons have become a benchmark for quality, size, and flavor, according to the industry. The Netherlands has consistently been the largest importer of Brazilian lemons, by a wide margin,” the USDA noted in its report.

Brazilian production is dominated by the Tahiti variety, which accounts for 97% of the total. Production is largely driven by small and medium-sized farmers with less than 25 hectares.

The Tahiti lemon is a hybrid fruit created by grafting a Persian lime with a sour lemon (Citrus limon), which explains its seedless nature. As a hybrid, the Tahiti lemon is classified as a “sour lime” rather than a true lemon.

It is characterized by its large size, thick green rind, and seedless composition. One of its most distinctive features is its ability to maintain a vibrant green skin throughout its shelf life — a highly valued quality in global markets, as any yellowing significantly reduces consumer appeal.

“Compared with Brazil’s orange industry, the lemon industry is significantly less developed, resulting in limited appeal for large-scale processing,” the text says.

Brazilian lemon production has grown 47% over the past ten years, reaching 1.72 million tonnes, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

Source: Globo Rural

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