Peru’s farm exports grew 1.9% to US$8.005 billion from January to August, far below the 21% growth recorded in the same period in 2025 and 20% in 2024, the exporters’ association ADEX said on Thursday, 8 October. The figures put northern fruit harvests in focus as ADEX warns El Niño could affect crops, including blueberries, though the scale of any damage remains unclear.
Farm exports accounted for about a tenth of Peru’s total exports during the period. Peru shipped US$7.856 billion in farm goods a year earlier. The Andean nation of 34 million, a major exporter of metals and fruit, depends on overseas buyers for its agricultural shipments.
Export Growth Loses Momentum
Five of the first eight months recorded growth; three recorded declines. Figures reported by the business daily Gestión show exports fell 4.8% in May, 0.9% in June and 2.8% in July. August shipments recovered 1.5%.
Agro-industrial goods, which Peru classifies as non-traditional exports, made up 90.3% of farm exports. Their value rose 1.8% to US$7.231 billion. Fruit sales reached US$4.561 billion, with blueberry exports rising 47.9% in value, grapes 17.6% and avocados 8.3%.
The United States is the largest buyer of Peruvian farm goods, including fruit, vegetables and coffee. The United States, the Netherlands and Spain together take 57% of Peru’s non-traditional farm exports. Earlier ADEX data showed U.S. buyers took US$1.4 billion of those goods from January to May, nearly twice the Dutch figure. Shipments of traditional farm goods to the United States, mainly coffee, rose 16.1%.
Peru is also a major off-season supplier of blueberries, grapes, avocados and asparagus to U.S. shoppers. ADEX hasn't said how much El Niño contributed to the overall slowdown, and it's still unclear how severely the late-year blueberry and grape harvests will be affected.
Weather Risks for Producers
ADEX warned that El Niño, a periodic warming of the Pacific that brings heat and heavy rain to Peru, could affect northern crops such as blueberries. Northern farm regions, including Piura and La Libertad, grow much of the fruit Peru sells abroad. The impact on the northern harvest from November remains uncertain.
Cocoa producers have already faced difficult conditions. San Martín, an Amazon region that grows about half of Peru’s cocoa, had heavy rain and humidity from March to May. The weather damaged flowering and ripening, and cocoa volumes fell. Larger harvests in Ivory Coast and Ghana also pushed world cocoa prices lower.
Mangoes, fresh asparagus, citrus and cocoa powder shipped in lower volumes. Coffee exports edged up 0.6% to US$701.7 million, helped by an early harvest that ADEX linked to El Niño.
José Antonio Mejía, who chairs ADEX’s coffee and cocoa committee, said this year’s harvest lacked its usual peak in June and July, with declines of 15% to 30%. He warned the trend could continue until the end of the year and called for a plant-health campaign and more resources for small producers.
Monitoring and the Next Reports
Peru’s state committee monitoring El Niño, ENFEN, issues updates every two weeks. Its most recent update was on 28 September. ENFEN said in May that coastal El Niño conditions could last until February 2027, Gestión reported.
Peru’s government hasn't published a new farm export forecast. The full ADEX release text wasn't available online, and the detailed figures rely on its summary and Gestión’s report. ENFEN’s next communiqué was expected in mid-October, while ADEX’s next monthly report is expected to show whether September brought a recovery.
Peru’s total exports rose 34.3% to US$74.1 billion on mining, ADEX said on 6 October.