Israel: Potato Exports Reach 169,407 Tonnes as Growers Plant About 18,000 Hectares
Israel plants about 180,000 dunams (18,000 hectares) of potatoes a year and exported 169,407 tonnes in 2023, according to a sector plan of the Vegetable Growers Organization.
Israel plants about 180,000 dunams of potatoes each year, according to a five-year plan for the vegetable sector prepared by the Vegetable Growers Organization. This equals about 18,000 hectares. The crop goes to three markets: fresh consumption at home, industry and export. The plan was written by Meir Yifrach of the organization and submitted to the Minister of Agriculture in December 2024. It was published in March 2025.
The plan calls the potato the central crop of the vegetable sector.
Exports
Exports are a large part of the business. According to the plan, Israel exported:
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- 2020: 147,901 tonnes
- 2021: 168,665 tonnes
- 2022: 156,231 tonnes
- 2023: 169,407 tonnes
The four-year average was 160,551 tonnes.
Home market and industry
Domestic consumption of potatoes was 260,944 tonnes in 2023, or about 21,745 tonnes a month and 5,436 tonnes a week. Imports were small, at 5,000 tonnes.
The processing industry also uses large volumes. Deliveries to industry were 96,559 tonnes in 2021, 73,732 tonnes in 2022 and 101,576 tonnes in 2023, an average of 90,622 tonnes a year.
What the numbers show
By our calculation, exports in 2023 were equal to about 65% of domestic consumption. Imports covered less than 2% of home use. This makes Israel a clear net exporter. Israel is one of the few countries in the Middle East that sells large volumes of potatoes abroad, while many of its neighbours import.
The plan does not say which countries buy Israeli potatoes, and it does not give total production. It also does not say whether the consumption figure includes potatoes delivered to industry. For this reason we do not add the figures together.
Why it matters
Israel’s potato sector is built for export. Exports of 150,000–170,000 tonnes a year mean that growers depend strongly on foreign demand.
The industrial channel, close to 100,000 tonnes in 2023, shows a strong local processing base. For seed suppliers, an area of about 18,000 hectares is a steady market. The five-year plan also shows that growers want policy support to keep the sector competitive, both at home and abroad.
Photo: Potato field at Kibbutz Urim in the Negev, Israel, archive photo (illustrative). Zoltan Kluger / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
