SEJONG: The amount of fruit imported by South Korea reached record high levels last year on growing demand for dietary diversity, customs data showed Saturday.
A total of 863,663 tons of fruit were imported in 2016, up 4.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service.
It surpass the earlier annual record of 840,171 tons set in 2012, although its value fell 6.9 percent to US$1.6 billion over the one-year period.
The amount of fruit imports has been on a steady rise for more than a decade, with numbers hitting 349,000 tons in 2000 and rising to 505,000 tons in 2004 and 753,000 tons in 2011.
The popularity of avocados rose sharply in South Korea last year with imports shooting up 92.4 percent on-year to 2,915 tons in 2016, while inflow of oranges surged 38.7 percent to 154,944 tons.
Kiwi imports rose a sharp 29 percent on-year and those of melon and moved up 21.1 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively.
By country, the Philippines is the biggest fruit exporter to South Korea, followed by the United States.
Fruit imports from the Philippines reached 380,878 tons, accounting for 44.1 percent of the total last year.
The customs office said imports from the United States stood at 248,640 tons or 28.8 percent of the total.
