Ornamental plants are produced in approximately 145 countries. While the size of the sector in the world is calculated as 43 billion dollars, the export figure is approximately 23 billion dollars worldwide. While countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, and Kenya have become important production areas due to low costs and suitable climatic conditions, the Netherlands ranks first in the world's ornamental plant production and trade.
In Turkey, although the sector does not have a very long history, it has attracted attention with its performance in recent years. While Turkey has increased its ornamental plant production area by 2.5 times to 5,687 hectares in the last 20 years, it has also begun to reap the fruits of this increase. While the number of employment in the sector exceeded 500,000, exports exceeded 137 million dollars in 2022. Ornamental plant production distinguishes itself from other sectors by bringing export revenue into the economy, especially by using idle areas, ensuring the participation of the local workforce in employment, and providing high-value products per unit area for export.
Despite Turkey's progress in recent years, it is still ranked 20th in the world export list. As a country, the country has the potential to take a larger share of the global market and reach higher production figures with the ability and competitiveness to produce plants suitable for all climatic conditions in the world. Although Turkey has the opportunity to grow rapidly in the nearby markets, the country has even more potential to become Europe's main supplier by reaching this high-value market in exports, especially due to rising production costs and a decrease in production quantities in Europe.
Source: Anamur Express
