Australia's Nursery Industry: A Growing Export Market   

By Your Levy @ Work

Australian nursery industry exports have risen for the third straight year, with $8.6 million of goods exported in 2022, up from $5.9 million in 2020. 

However, in the year ending June 2022, Australia continued to import more than it exported with $47.8 million worth of nursery products reaching our shores, according to the recently released Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbook 2021-22 to 2023-24 (HA18002). It’s likely this is in the form of high value genetic material from places like the Netherlands and Taiwan. 

The annual handbook offers the most comprehensive and contemporary data available on all sectors of the Australian horticulture industry in one easy-to-use guide. Insights are drawn from supply chain sources, including international trade statistics and industry peak bodies. It includes data on more than 75 horticultural products including fruit, nuts, vegetables, nursery, turf and cut flowers. 

Get the handbook

Despite Australia's net import dependency, there are opportunities for the country to export nursery products to global markets. In the year ending June 2022, Saudi Arabia was the largest export market for Australian nursery plants, with the industry exporting 15% of its exports to that market. 

Further key highlights on the nursery industry from the 2021–22 Handbook include:  

• nursery production occurs in all states and territories of Australia – the top producers are Victoria, Queensland, and New South Wales 

• nursery operations take place throughout the year, but sales are highest during spring 

• Australia has three main types of farming systems in nursery production: glasshouse cultivation (13%), polyhouses & tunnels (4%), and conventional farming (83%) 

• the nursery industry in Australia is strong and supports both domestic and international markets. 

The full Handbook is available on the Hort Innovation website at: https://www.horticulture.com.au/growers/help-your-business-grow/research-reports-publications-fact-sheets-and-more/grower-resources/ha18002-assets/australian-horticulture-statistics-handbook/ www.horticulture.com.au/hort-stats-handbook. 

Soon, we will be releasing the findings from the Nursery Industry Statistics Report, which takes a much closer and deeper look at the scale and scope of the nursery industry. 

Stay tuned! 
 

The Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbook for the year ending 30 June 2022 is presented by Hort Innovation. It was produced by the multi-industry levy investment Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbook 2021-22 to 2023-24 (MT21006): https://www.horticulture.com.au/growers/help-your-business-grow/research-reports-publications-fact-sheets-and-more/mt21006/