The world cut flower industry: Trends and prospects

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The world cut flower industry: Trends and prospects

1. Industry overview

1.1 Introduction

In many countries flowers are grown for commercial purposes for domestic markets, although the size of individual markets or its development are difficult to assess given the lack of consumption and production data. The main consuming countries (Germany is the exception) are largely self-sufficient in flowers. Japan and united States are the largest markets, with, in 1990, over NFI 10,000 million worth of flowers being sold there (compared with NFI 5,000 million in Germany (Rabobank, p.6)). In terms of area under cultivation, China and India dominate (but their yield per hectare is low (1) ). In 1994, China had close to an estimated 60,000 ha under cultivation for flowers and foliage, while India had 34,000 ha (compared to United States at 15,000 ha, and Japan and the Netherlands 8,000 ha (see table 1)). Producers in the first group of countries (the United States, Japan, India and China) have in common that they mainly, if not exclusively, produce for their own market. In Japan, 95 per cent of demand is met by local producers (Rabobank, p.10). In India and China, purchasing power is too low for sizeable imports to take place and quality is too low for sizeable exports to develop. (2)

A second group of countries are those which have sizeable markets where imports satisfy most demand. Germany is the typical example, with imports making up 70 per cent of total demand. A third group, which includes Colombia and Kenya, is opposite of the second; they have a small home market but a large volume of exports. Colombia is typical of this group -- with exports amounting to 95 per cent of production in recent years. Finally, there is a group with a large home market combined with a large export share. The Netherlands is the best example here.

The focus of this paper is on internationally traded cut flowers. Exports, imports, the structure, the organization and the prospects of world trade are its key themes. As such, this approach underemphasizes the importance of those producing countries which export relatively little and overemphasizes the importance of those which export most of their production but have no large markets of their own.

1.2 International trade

The world cut flower trade is characterized by a high degree of concentration by product and sources. Roses are the main traded product, Germany is the main market for imports, and the Netherlands the world's leading exporter. Figures 1, 2 and 3 give trade flows by main region. They show in Europe the overwhelming share of the Netherlands as a supplier to Germany. Exports from the Netherlands to Germany are a principal component of the world cut flower trade; they made up 43 per cent of total EU exports in 1994. Switzerland, France, and the United Kingdom are the other main markets for Dutch flowers. In the Americas, Colombia stands out as a supplier to the United States (Ecuador is a good second), while in Asia, Japan (Asia's main market) receives its supplies from a more diversified base, with Taiwan (China), New Zealand and Europe being the most important ones.

Table 1. Area under flower and foliage crops (selected countries, in hectares)

	Hectares	Year
*Europe*
Netherlands	8 004	1996
Italy	7 654	1994
Germany	7 066	1996
United Kingdom	6 804	1993
Spain	4 325	1994
France	3 795	1990
Belgium	1 642	1993
Hungary	1 050	1993
Greece	990	1995
*Asia*
Middle East
Israel	1 910	1996	^a
Turkey	670	1993
East
China	59 527	1994
India	34 000
Japan	8 050	1994	^a
Thailand	7 000	1995	^b
*Africa*
Kenya	1 280	1995	^c
Zimbabwe	940	1995	^c
Côte d'Ivoire	690	1995	^c
Morocco	427	1992
*Americas*
United States	15 522	1995
Mexico	5 000	1994
Colombia	4 200	1995	^a
Costa Rica	3 600	1994
Ecuador	500	1994
Dominican Republic	400	1995	^c
Peru	200	1994
*Australia*	3 940	1993
^a=Cut flowers only. ^b=Orchids only. ^c=COLEACP. Source: AIPH-Union Fleurs, Yearbook of the International Horticultural Statistics (The Hague).

International trade is thus, to a large extent, organized along regional lines. Asia-Pacific countries are the main suppliers to Japan and Hong Kong. New Zealand sells 70 per cent of its exports to Japan; Taiwan over 90 per cent. Hong Kong's principal suppliers are China, Taiwan (China), Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand. African and other European countries are the principal suppliers to Europe's main markets. Kenya sends over 60 per cent of its exports to the Dutch auctions; Zimbabwe 80 per cent, and Zambia over 90 per cent. The United States is supplied mainly by other countries in the hemisphere for which the United States in turn is their main market, Colombia and Ecuador being typical with over 70 per cent of their exports going to the United States.

Figure 1. Intra-European Exchange of fresh cut flowers, 1996

NL = Netherlands; SF = Finland; N = Norway; S = Sweden; GB = United Kingdom; B-L = Belgium and Luxembourg; DK = Denmark; PL = Poland; D = Germany; F = France; A = Austria; CH = Switzerland; E = Spain; I = Italy; IL = Israel.

Scale: 1 cm width = Sfr.200 million. Source: AIPH, Yearbook of the International Horticultural Statistics, 1997.

Figure 2. Intra-American exchange of fresh cut flowers, 1996

CDN = Canada; JA = Jamaica; MEX = Mexico; GCA = Guatemala; CR = Costa Rica; EC = Ecuador; PE = Peru; CO = Colombia.

Scale: 1 cm width = Sfr.100 million.
Source: As for figure 1.

Figure 3. Intra-Asiatic exchange of fresh cut flowers, 1996

J = Japan; ROK = Republic of Korea; CHN = China; IND = India; MS = Malaysia; T = Thailand; HK = Hong Kong; RI = Indonesia; RC = Taiwan, China; SOP = Singapore; RP = Philippines; AUS = Australia; NZ = New Zealand.

Scale: 1 cm width = Sfr.100 million.
Source: As for figure 1.

1.2.1 Imports

World imports are highly concentrated geographically (table 2). Germany is the largest import market, followed by the United States. The Netherlands, the United States and Japan show fast growth, while German imports stagnated in the first half of the 1990s.

Europe takes around 70 per cent of world imports (much of which is intra-European trade), Germany alone taking close to one-third. Other sizeable European markets are the United Kingdom and France (both 9.7 per cent in 1995), the Netherlands (8.4 per cent) and Switzerland (4.5 per cent). The Netherlands re-exports a large proportion of its imported cut flowers (70 per cent of all auctioned imports (Protrade, 1996, p. 53)).

Table 2. Main import markets for cut flowers,^a by value (CIF), 1991-95 (in millions of US dollars)

Import markets	1991		Value			1995 ^b
	Value	%	1992	1993 ^b	1994^b	Value	%
World imports of which:	3 351.7	100.0	3 565.5	3 026.7	3 445.0	3 716.8	100.0
European Union (15 as of 31.12.1996)
Germany	1 245.3	37.2	1 321.7	893.1	1 052.6	1 124.9	30.3
United Kingdom	305.6	9.1	319.4	275.4	322.8	360.0	9.7
France	337.8	10.1	319.8	243.0	267.5	358.9	9.7
Netherlands	185.3	5.5	244.3	222.4	261.6	310.4	8.4
Italy	134.0	4.0	133.7	134.5	122.6	118.9	3.2
Belgium and Luxembourg	77.3	2.3	81.7	70.9	82.1	95.8	2.6
Denmark	37.0	1.1	38.5	40.0	46.1	63.0	1.7
Spain	35.1	1.0	41.2	28.2	26.5	29.8	0.8
Ireland	16.0	0.5	17.8	15.4	17.1	19.0	0.5
Finland	12.9	0.4	10.6	7.1	7.3	16.3	0.4
Portugal	2.5	0.1	4.3	5.1	5.4	6.1	0.2
Austria	82.9	2.5	84.6	78.6	85.9	n.a.	-
Sweden	79.2	2.4	83.4	65.1	68.4	n.a.	-
Greece	9.2	0.3	8.3	15.8	16.3	n.a.	-
United States	403.5	12.0	436.8	469.1	517.4	622.8	16.8
Japan	143.8	4.3	127.6	157.5	191.5	216.1	5.8
Switzerland	141.2	4.2	139.6	132.6	147.4	168.7	4.5
Canada	36.8	1.1	40.2	44.3	47.4	49.6	1.3
Singapore	13.2	0.4	17.9	23.8	31.8	29.6	0.8
Norway	29.5	0.9	30.6	25.3	26.0	28.8	0.8
Hong Kong, China	n.a.	-	21.8	21.3	21.8	23.8	0.6
Czech Republic	n.a.	-	n.a.	10.4	14.5	18.9	0.5
Slovenia	n.a.	-	4.8	7.8	9.5	12.3	0.3
Poland	n.a.	-	2.5	3.3	4.1	3.9	0.1
^a HS 06.03 -- Cut flowers and flower buds of a kind suitable for bouquets or for ornamental purposes, fresh, dried, dyed, bleached, impregnated or otherwise prepared. ^b The creation of the single European market in 1993 resulted in significant under-recording of intra-EU trade. Source: UNSO/ITC Comtrade Database System.

Most imports into the EU originate in other European countries, although the share of developing countries is growing rapidly. In 1990, developing countries' exports to the EU amounted to 243 million ecus (14.4 per cent of total EU imports). By 1995 these had grown to 409 million ecus, or 20.8 per cent of total EU imports of cut flowers and foliage (Protrade, 1996, pp. 2-3). The main non-EU suppliers of the EU are Israel, Kenya and Colombia. Imports from Ecuador, Zimbabwe and Kenya increased rapidly between 1993 and 1996 while those from Colombia decreased (table 3). Imports into the Netherlands originating in countries outside the EU show a comparable picture. Israel and Kenya are the main suppliers. Ecuador, Zambia and Zimbabwe show dynamic growth, while imports from Colombia are on the decline (table 4).

Table 3. European imports by country of origin ('000 kg)

Country	1993	1994	1995	1996	%
Israel	26 309	28 775	25 629	31 095	26.1
Kenya	22 557	24 741	25 734	29 023	24.4
Colombia	24 311	22 127	20 015	19 726	16.6
Zimbabwe	5 774	7 034	9 014	10 657	9.0
Ecuador	2 116	3 180	4 693	5 649	4.8
Turkey	3 697	3 721	3 373	4 588	3.9
Thailand	3 802	3 612	3 185	2 985	2.5
Morocco	2 649	2 626	3 316	2 909	2.4
Canary Islands	1 921	2 105	2 304	1 903	1.6
South Africa	1 743	1 590	1 578	1 723	1.4
Others	5 970	7 357	8 455	8 659	7.3
Total	100 849	106 868	107 296	118 917	100.0
Source: Bedrijfsschap (1997), based on AIPH-Union Fleurs, Yearbook of the International Horticultural Statistics (The Hague).

Table 4. Imports of cut flowers into the Netherlands from countries outside the EU ('000 kg)

Country	1993	1994	1995	1996	%
Israel	18 409	19 757	17 642	23 434	38.0
Kenya	15 500	16 802	17 244	20 020	32.4
Zimbabwe	5 055	5 923	7 167	8 404	13.6
Ecuador	547	880	1 712	2 081	3.4
Colombia	3 646	2 529	2 553	1 744	2.8
Zambia	610	829	987	1 347	2.2
Tanzania, United Republic of	503	535	683	655	1.1
South Africa	561	553	579	708	1.1
Others	2 320	3 379	3 670	3 347	5.4
Total	47 151	51 187	52 237	61 740	100.0
Source: Bedrijfsschap (1997), based on AIPH-Union Fleurs, Yearbook of the International Horticultural Statistics (The Hague).

1.2.2 Exports

Europe is the principal source of the world's exports, albeit with a declining share from the 70 per cent peak reached in 1991. Developing countries as a group saw spectacular increases in market share, in less than four years making up around one-quarter of world exports by 1995. The Netherlands remains the world's leading exporter but again on a declining trend, from 64 per cent share of world exports in 1991 to 57 per cent in 1995. Colombia is second at 14 per cent (table 5). Kenya doubled its share to 2.7 per cent, Ecuador quadrupled, also to 2.7 per cent, while Zimbabwe tripled to 1.3 per cent. New Zealand, Malaysia, Belgium-Luxembourg, India and Guatemala more than doubled their share, but this was still below 1 per cent in 1995.

Table 5. Main exporting countries/areas for cut flowers,^(a)by value (CIF), 1991-95 (in millions of US dollars)

Exporting countries/areas	1991		Value			1995 (b)
	Value	%	1992	1993 ^(b)	1994 ^(b)	Value	%
World exports of which from:	3 351.7	100.0	3 565.5	3 026.7	3 445.0	3 716.8	100.0
Netherlands	2 147.4	64.0	2 241.6	1 744.2	1 995.9	2 102.2	56.5
Colombia	387.1	11.5	442.1	462.3	483.4	525.0	14.1
Israel	145.9	4.3	148.2	134.8	152.5	158.7	4.2
Kenya	53.6	1.6	63.2	68.4	85.8	103.5	2.7
Ecuador	22.1	0.6	31.7	44.0	63.1	102.2	2.7
Italy	113.2	3.3	115.4	78.8	86.8	92.3	2.4
Thailand	75.5	2.2	74.5	73.5	76.9	80.5	2.1
Spain	70.3	2.0	65.4	47.4	59.5	60.0	1.6
Zimbabwe	16.6	0.4	29.5	29.7	36.8	51.9	1.3
France	31.9	0.9	33.9	29.2	35.3	39.6	1.0
New Zealand	17.1	0.5	20.5	23.4	33.8	37.1	0.9
Malaysia	11.5	0.3	18.6	24.2	31.3	29.7	0.8
United States	23.0	0.6	29.6	31.1	30.4	28.6	0.7
Mexico	18.8	0.5	15.5	17.2	18.5	27.9	0.7
Costa Rica	15.0	0.4	16.7	18.5	22.6	23.3	0.6
Singapore	17.8	0.5	22.9	22.7	22.8	22.7	0.6
Belgium-Luxembourg	6.6	0.1	8.4	8.6	16.7	21.6	0.5
Australia	16.8	0.5	15.6	16.7	19.8	20.6	0.5
Germany	16.9	0.5	17.9	20.6	18.6	20.0	0.5
Morocco	15.0	0.4	16.5	14.9	15.6	17.4	0.4
South Africa	16.1	0.4	15.9	14.9	15.5	16.4	0.4
United Kingdom	15.3	0.4	16.8	9.9	13.6	15.9	0.4
Turkey	12.6	0.3	13.5	13.1	13.6	13.0	0.3
India	2.0	0.0	2.5	2.5	5.6	11.4	0.3
Guatemala	5.1	0.1	7.2	7.2	9.8	10.7	0.2
Mauritius	5.4	0.1	5.8	5.6	5.4	6.7	0.2
(a) HS 06.03 -- Cut flowers and flower buds of a kind suitable for bouquets or for ornamental purposes, fresh, dried, dyed, bleached, impregnated or otherwise prepared. (b) The creation of the single European market in 1993 resulted in significant under-recording of intra-EU trade. Source: UNSO/ITC Comtrade Database System.

The main export destinations of EU exports are other EU Member States. Intra-EU exports of cut flowers and foliage account for 82 per cent of total EU exports (1,800 million ecus). Germany is the major market, accounting for around 1,000 million ecus or nearly 50 per cent of the total export value in the EU. Exports from the Netherlands to Germany amounted to about 43 per cent of total EU exports in 1994. Extra-EU exports stood at 304 million ecus in 1995 (Protrade, 1996, pp. 26-27). 1.2.3 Products

Roses and carnations are the principal traded products, with the share of the former growing steadily and that of carnations stagnating. In 1995, world rose imports totalled Sw.frs.791 million and accounted for 23 per cent of all imports, while carnations had a 15 per cent market share, followed by chrysanthemums 9.5 per cent, orchids 1.7 per cent, gladioli 0.3 per cent and all other flowers 49.9 per cent (table 6). Between them, roses, carnations and chrysanthemums make up close to 50 per cent of the world cut flower trade. Table 6 also shows that preferences can differ markedly depending on the market. In the United Kingdom, for instance, carnations are far more popular than roses, whereas the Swiss buy very few carnations.

Table 6. Markets surveyed: Imports of cut flowers, by flower and value, 1995 (in millions of Swiss francs)

Flower	Importing countries
	United States		Germany	France	United Kingdom	Netherlands	Switzerland		Total
Total of which:	716.4		1 308.1	393.9	406.7	360.3	196.4		3 381.8
Roses	211.9		277.8	72.2	40.3	113.7	75.5		791.4
Carnations	156.3		126.3	28.8	131.1	68.8	4.2	^a	515.5
Chrysanthemums	109.3		99.4	37.9	71.0	4.2		^b	321.8
Orchids		^b	34.7	13.1	4.0	4.0		^b	55.8
Gladioli		^b	5.7	3.7	1.2	0.5		^b	11.1
Others	238.9		764.2	238.2	159.1	169.1	116.7		1 686.2
^a Imports of carnations during the summer period (1 May-25 October) are recorded under the category "Others". ^b Recorded under "Others". Source: ITC (1997), based on AIPH-Union Fleurs, Yearbook of the International Horticultural Statistics (The Hague).

The rose is rapidly gaining in market share at the expense of carnations. Imports of carnations declined in both the United States and the EU between 1991 and 1995 (table 7), while in the same period imports of roses into the United States increased by no less than 70 per cent and those into the EU by 50 per cent (table 8). Figure 4 compares imports of main products into the EU (1990-94).

New entrants into the cut flower trade concentrate on the rose, its favourable value-to-weight ratio and high sales volumes being the main attractions (ITC, 1997). In Ecuador, 54 per cent of the area under cultivation was given over to rose in 1997 and in Zambia even more (80 per cent).

Table 7. United States and Europe: Imports (a) of carnations, 1991-95 (in millions of stems)

Importing countries/areas	1991		Quantity			1995
	Quantity	%	1992	1993	1994	Quantity	%
United States	1 401	100.0	1 538	1 692	1 564	1 350	100.0
Total Europe ^(b) of which	2 381	100.0	2 611	2 457	2 556	2 346	100.0
Germany ^(c)	920	38.6	913	840	850	790	33.7
Netherlands	582	24.4	753	618	638	515	22.0
United Kingdom ^(c)	638	26.8	682	747	801	761	32.4
France ^(c)	114	4.8	105	131	142	153	6.5
Spain	47	2.0	80	59	51	52	2.2
Belgium and Luxembourg	38	1.6	37	27	25	23	1.0
Ireland	21	0.9	16	13	19	17	0.7
Italy	3	0.1	3	17	15	16	0.7
Denmark	12	0.5	14	1	11	13	0.6
Greece	6	0.3	8	4	4	4	0.2
Portugal	0.2	-	0.2	0.4	0.6	0.4	-
(a) As a result of the creation of the single European market in 1993, intra-EU trade is understated in 1993, 1994 and 1995. (b) Excluding Austria and Switzerland. (c) National import statistics revised using export data from Produktschap voor Siergewassen or PVS, the Netherlands commodity board for floricultural products. Source: ITC (1997), based on AIPIH-Union Fleurs, Yearbook of the International Horticultural Statistics and Produktschap voor Siergewassen (The Hague).

Table 8. United States, European Union^(a) and Switzerland:
Import of roses by quantity, 1991-92, 1994-95 (in millions of stems)

Importing countries/areas	1991		Quantity		1995 ^(b)
	Quantity	%	1992	1994^(b)	Quantity		%
United States	457.6	100.0	520.9	677.8	777.0		100.0
Total EU of which:	1 803.5	100.0	1 908.3	2 381.8	2 664.2		100.0
Germany	1 228.0	68.1	1 228.2	1 251.6	1 274.6		47.8
Netherlands	173.0	9.6	234.3	526.8	731.9		27.5
France	165.3	9.2	172.1	244.9	260.1		9.8
United Kingdom	91.3	5.1	94.9	123.7	170.0		6.4
Italy	28.4	1.6	35.1	63.2	84.9		3.2
Belgium and Luxembourg	44.2	2.5	50.3	62.5	57.2	^(c)	2.1
Denmark	48.4	2.7	51.6	56.5	52.0		2.0
Spain	19.5	1.1	35.2	20.6	19.6		0.7
Ireland	4.3	0.2	4.7	9.3	9.6	^(c)	0.4
Greece	1.0	-	1.3	1.3	2.4	^(c)	0.1
Portugal	0.1	-	0.6	2.9	1.9		0.1
Switzerland	75.0	100.0	76.9	98.8	115.7		100.0
^(a) Excluding Austria, Finland and Sweden. ^(b) Owing to the creation of the single European market in 1993, intra-EU trade in 1994 and 1995 is understated. ^(c) Excluding December imports. Source: ITC (1997), based on AIPIH-Union Fleurs, Yearbook of the International Horticultural Statistics (The Hague).

Figure 4. European Union imports of roses, carnations, orchids, gladioli and chrysanthemums (in thousands of ecus), 1990-94

Source: Eurostat.

Table 9 gives data on rose imports into the EU. The Netherlands is by far the largest supplier, but again with developing countries gaining rapidly in market share. The gains by Kenya (by a factor of 7), Zimbabwe (x 4), Ecuador (x 6) and Colombia (x 3) in only four years are truly remarkable. At a lesser scale, Zambia, the United Republic of Tanzania and Malawi are also noteworthy. But so is the fact that the market managed to absorb 50 per cent more roses in these years and that the other main exporters, the Netherlands and Israel, also increased their exports (although to a lesser extent). Exports from Morocco, Brazil and Italy declined in absolute terms. 1.3 Consumption

There are considerable differences by country in the number and type of flowers that people buy. Within countries purchasing patterns differ by geographical region and income strata: affluent people buy more bouquets with "special" flowers; less affluent people buy simple bunches of flowers. Even colour preferences vary.

People buy flowers for a number of reasons: as a gift (for a birthday or a special day such as Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving), for weddings and funerals, or for own use to brighten up the home. Among these, gift-giving (to congratulate, apologize, commiserate, express love and affection) is the most frequently stated reason for buying flowers (over 70 per cent of all purchases in the United Kingdom and Austria; over 50 per cent on average). As such, flowers compete with wine and chocolates, which are bought for the same reason. Still, there are marked differences by country. In Italy, over half of all flowers purchased are for the decoration of graves and funerals while purchases for own use score 20 per cent on average. In Japan, the practice of buying flowers for own use is virtually unknown. Prices are high and points of sale few. The Japanese consumer is very quality conscious. In the United States flowers are expensive. Traditionally, they are seen as luxury items (Rabobank). In the Netherlands, on the other hand, personal use was given as the reason in no less than 50 per cent of all cases (flowers are comparatively cheap in Holland).

Table 9. European Union:^(a) Imports of roses, by major supplier and by quantity, 1991-92, 1994-95 (in millions of stems)

Supplying countries/areas	1991		1992		1994		1995
	Quantity	Rank	Quantity	Rank	Quantity	Rank	Quantity	Rank
Total imports of which from:	1 803.5		1 908.3		2 381.8		2 755.0
Netherlands	1 392.7	1	1 421.4	1	1 557.0	1	1 657.8	1
Kenya	44.4	5	65.5	4	197.1	3	310.5	2
Zimbabwe	53.4	3	77.7	3	123.9	4	224.0	3
Israel	146.8	2	145.5	2	232.6	2	214.7	4
Ecuador	10.6	10	17.5	9	39.8	5	64.5	5
Colombia	15.5	8	28.6	7	34.5	7	46.3	6
Canary Islands	46.4	4	45.2	5	35.6	6	34.0	7
Uganda	-		-		15.2	12	29.0	8
Zambia	7.9	11	12.6	10	22.1	9	28.6	9
Tanzania, United Rep. of	-		0.1		15.2	11	24.0	10
Morocco	42.2	6	41.3	6	25.4	8	21.5	11
Malawi	0.6	18	4.3	14	13.6	13	21.0	12
Brazil	15.3	7	18.1	8	17.1	10	14.1	13
Belgium and Luxembourg	6.2	12	5.7	12	4.4	19	12.0	14
India	0.002		1.2	17	2.1		10.6	15
Germany	2.3	14	4.3	13	12.2	14	9.3	16
Italy	12.0	9	9.0	11	6.9	16	6.9	17
France	0.7	17	0.9	18	5.1	18	6.5	18
United States	0.1		0.2		7.7	15	4.7	19
Spain	0.9	15	2.6	15	6.2	17	4.2	20
South Africa	0.6	19	0.8	19	2.2	20	3.3
United Kingdom	0.9	16	0.5	20	0.3		0.5
Swaziland	-		-		1.6		-
Nigeria	-		-		1.3		-
Mexico	2.5	13	2.6	16	1.0		-
Costa Rica	0.3	20	0.4		0.4		-
^(a) Excluding Austria, Finland and Sweden. Source: ITC (1997), based on AIPH-Union Fleurs, Yearbook of the International Horticultural Statistics (The Hague).

Preferences differ markedly by country, as we saw in the previous section. While the rose remains the most popular item (in France, 57 per cent of the total), the mixed bouquet is gaining in popularity everywhere, making up 42 per cent of the total in Germany and 30 per cent in the United Kingdom. Carnations are the most popular cut flower in the United Kingdom (22 per cent of the total) and in Italy (24 per cent) (Protrade, 1996).

Overall consumption levels also differ markedly by country. Germany is the largest market, followed by Italy, France and the United Kingdom (table 10). But these figures hide considerable differences in per capita consumption (table 11). The Swiss spend by far the largest amount per person; at 87 ecus, 50 per cent more in 1995 than the Norwegians, who are second at 54 ecus. The Dutch and the Germans buy 40 ecus worth on average, Italians 29 ecus and the French 27 ecus. In the United Kingdom, per capita consumption at 16 ecus lags the other European countries.

There are indications that consumers are becoming more demanding, particularly in Germany and Switzerland. This is manifested in two ways. There is more attention for the conditions under which flowers are being grown (see also below). And there is a search for new varieties and novelties. The retail market is becoming more sophisticated. As one grower put it: "They used to ask for just red roses; now they ask for Grand Gala ..." (interview with Ned Latif of Inlandes SA Quito, the largest flower growers of Ecuador in Floraculture International, June 1997, pp. 18-21).

Table 10. Consumption of cut flowers (in millions of ecus), 1990-95

	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
Germany	2 547	2 757	2 949	3 067	3 025	3 210
Italy	2 156	2 359	2 476	2 104	1 910	1 638
France	1 366	1 462	1 423	1 529	1 609	1 535
United Kingdom	928	908	897	937	965	934
Switzerland (non-EU)	-	-	526	547	586	611
Netherlands	492	471	511	557	590	595
Spain	386	448	479	452	449	441
Belgium and Luxembourg	270	303	313	329	346	404
Austria	-	-	-	386	375	363
Sweden (non-EU until 1995)	268	-	-	-	305	310
Finland	-	-	-	-	211	248
Norway (non-EU until 1995)	220	224	228	215	223	241
Denmark	-	157	163	162	177	199
Greece	145	143	141	136	137	138
Portugal	-	-	-	82	86	101
Ireland	-	-	-	-	-	44
(-) = data not available. Source: Protrade (1996), based on Flower Council of Holland.

Table 11. Consumption per capita of cut flowers (ecus), 1990-95

	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
Switzerland (non-EU)	-	-	76	79	84	87
Norway (non-EU)	52	50	51	48	51	54
Finland	-	-	-	-	41	50
Austria	-	-	-	49	48	46
Belgium and Luxembourg	25	29	30	33	34	40
Germany	32	35	37	38	37	40
Netherlands	33	32	33	36	39	39
Denmark	-	31	32	31	34	38
Sweden	32	-	-	-	34	35
Italy	36	41	43	37	33	29
France	25	26	26	27	28	27
United Kingdom	16	16	15	16	17	16
Greece	15	14	14	13	13	13
Ireland	-	-	-	-	-	11
Spain	10	12	12	12	12	11
Portugal	-	-	-	8	8	10
(-) = data not available. Source: Protrade (1996), based on Flower Council of Holland.

Updated by BR. Approved by OdVR. Last update: 28 September 2000.