South Korea's fruit imports hit record high of $1.24b in 2017

Fruit imports in South Korea hit a new record high last year due to dietary diversity, customs office data showed Monday.

The country imported 834,000 tons of fruits, worth $1.24 billion, in 2017, according to data from Korea Customs Service.

In terms of value, the fruit imports reached a new record high, more than doubling compared with the figure tallied 10 years earlier.

Banana import amounted to 370 million US dollars in 2017, remaining as the single largest fruit import since 2006. The tropical fruit accounted for 29.4 per cent of the total fruit imports last year.

It was followed by orange taking up 17.8 per cent of the total and grape and cherry making up 12.9 per cent each.

Avocado import was 30 million US dollars in 2017, surging 1,458.3 per cent from 10 years earlier.

Mango import soared 701.2 per cent over the past 10 years to 50 million US dollars in 2017, reports Xinhua.

The United States was the largest fruit exporter to South Korea, accounting for 38.3 per cent of the total fruit imports of the country.

It was followed by the Philippines with 28.6 per cent of the total, Chile with 11.6 per cent and New Zealand with 5.1 per cent, respectively.