Press release No. N 004 of 31 January 2020
• Chocolate exports also at a record high in 2018
• Africa accounting for 80% of total cocoa imports
• Imported quantities subject to considerable fluctuations
• Increase in cocoa consumer prices stronger than in overall food prices between 2015 and 2019
WIESBADEN – German traders imported more cocoa beans (nearly 470,000 tonnes) in 2018 than in each of the previous ten years. Compared with 2008 (roughly 334,000 tonnes), this was an increase of 41%. To coincide with the ISM Cologne (trade fair for sweets and snacks) to take place in Cologne from 2 to 5 February 2020, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that roughly 80% of all cocoa imports came from Africa in 2018. The main suppliers were Côte d'Ivoir (50%), Nigeria (17%) and Ghana (11%), three countries in West Africa. As experts see it, the areas of cultivation and, consequently, the relevant cocoa yields will be threatened by climate change and plant diseases especially in these countries in the coming decades. Besides, Côte d'Ivoir and Ghana consider price surcharges for this export good.
