“This year’s production may have been around 10% above the normal year”, the president of AlgarOrange, José Oliveira, told Lusa agency.

According to the agricultural leader, the last season “went well”, despite the problems that producers had to face, namely the lack of water and the pests that attacked the trees.

José Oliveira predicted, on the other hand, that “expectations for the next season [2024-2025] are almost identical to the one that ended in September”.

The estimates were made from a sample of a group of AlgarOrange associates responsible for around 30% of Algarve production.

This representative sample of the sector also indicates that, of the total citrus produced, around 84% were oranges, 8% tangerines and clementines and 7% lemons.

Data presented at the conference indicate, however, that the estimated production for the 2023-2024 harvest, 335 thousand tons, was below estimates made in 2022 based on data from the European Union, which pointed to 462 thousand tons.

According to AlgarOrange, around 74% of the area and 88% of the country's citrus production is located in the Algarve.