Costa Rica takes the gold in 2020

Costa Rica was the top banana in 2020.

The nation was the largest fresh or dried banana exporter in Central America with $1.083 billion, followed by Guatemala with $930 million, Honduras with $531 million, Panama with $152 million, and Nicaragua with $23 million, as reported by America-Retail.

From 2019 to 2020, the exported value of bananas registered an increase of 7 percent, increasing from $2.523 billion to $2.725 billion.
Exports from Central American countries to the U.S. also increased from $1.646 billion to $1.762 billion.

In 2020, 65 percent of the value exported from Central America was destined to the U.S., 10 percent to the Netherlands, 4 percent the UK, 3 percent to Belgium, 3 percent to Italy, 2 percent to Germany, 2 percent to Spain, and 1 percent to Portugal.

The Netherlands is the destination market for Central American exports that has grown the most for the period in question in recent years. In 2012 the country represented less than .5 percent of sales, and last year that increased to 10 percent.

During 2020, the average price of Central American foreign sales of bananas has registered a slight upward trend, going from $0.38 per kilo in January to $0.41 in December.