Reviewed archive · February 17, 2026
Banana exporters reported more than 378 million boxes in 2025
Originally published February 17, 2026 · Reviewed September 25, 2026
Ecuador's banana exporters' association AEBE said the country shipped more than 378 million boxes of bananas in 2025. Its executive director gave that rounded figure in a January 2026 announcement about a banana-sector research initiative. The announcement did not supply the precise 378.41 million figure or a historical series that would establish the 'record' assertion in this page's original headline.
A separate central-bank goods-trade series reports bananas and plantains together, measured in metric tonnes rather than boxes. On that broader basis, exports rose from 6.540 million tonnes in 2024 to 6.985 million tonnes in 2025, a 6.8% increase. The two measures should not be converted or compared directly without matching product coverage and box-weight conventions.
The central bank valued 2025 banana-and-plantain exports at $4.262 billion, up 11.0% from 2024. The value increased faster than tonnage because the reported average value per tonne also rose. These are gross export values, not farm-gate prices, exporter earnings or net profit.
Bananas and plantains made up 50.6% of non-oil export tonnage in 2025 but 14.5% of non-oil export value. That difference explains why a high-volume commodity can have a much smaller share of export receipts. The association's box count and the bank's broader trade figures support different questions; neither verifies the old headline's detailed destination-country growth claims.
Sources
This is a dated archive item. Publishing is paused, and later developments may have changed the situation.