Our Industry
The apple and pear industry is the third largest horticultural industry in Australia after grapes and citrus.
Apples and pears are grown in all six Australian states. The major apple and pear producing areas are Stanthorpe in Southern Queensland, Orange and Batlow in New South Wales, the Goulburn Valley and Southern Victoria, Huon Valley in Tasmania, Adelaide Hills in South Australia and the Perth Hills, Donnybrook and Manjimup regions in Western Australia. In addition, there are many small pockets of apple and pear production in each state.
Victoria is Australia's largest producer of apples and pears, generally producing more than 30 per cent of the nation's apples and close to 90 per cent of the nation's pears - mostly from the Goulburn Valley area around Shepparton. New South Wales and Western Australia are the next largest apple producing states.
The main apple varieties grown traditionally have been Red Delicious and Granny Smith (55 per cent of production in 1998/99). But newer varieties such as Gala, Fuji, Cripps Pink (sold using the trademark brand Pink Lady™) and Cripps Red (sold using the trademark brand Sundowner™) now account for nearly 50 per cent of production.
In 2007, Granny Smith was the most produced apple with 24 per cent of the total crop with Pink LadyTM a close second with 21 per cent of the total crop.
Australia, in relation to other Apple and Pear producing countries, represents around 0.8 per cent of world production of apples and 1.4 per cent of world pear production.
| State | Apples Total production tonnes | Apples Total area hectares | Pears Total production tonnes | Pears Total area hectares |
| VIC | 104,002 | 4,279 | 113,308 | 3,642 |
| NSW | 44,912 | 2,455 | 561 | 80 |
| QLD | 35,486 | 1,571 | 649 | 48 |
| WA | 31,528 | 1,423 | 7,147 | 347 |
| TAS | 30,222 | 1,224 | 960 | 53 |
| SA | 19,256 | 1,306 | 4,935 | 253 |
| AUS | 265,481 | 12,258 | 127,561 | 4,393 |
| Variety | Production tonnes |
| Cripps Pink (Pink Lady™) | 60,487 |
| Granny Smith | 58,566 |
| Gala | 39,478 |
| Red Delicious | 38,333 |
| Fuji | 19,908 |
| Sundowner | 19,897 |
| Golden Delicious | 12,341 |
| Jonathan | 3,371 |
| Jonagold | 3,336 |
| Braeburn | 2,591 |
| Lady Williams | 2,090 |
| Bonza | 1,580 |
| All other varieties | 3,498 |
| Total - all varieties | 265,480 |
| State | Apple production | Apple area | Pear production | Pear area |
| 2001/02 | 320,526 | 17,328 | 144,885 | 5,403 |
| 2002/03 | 326,072 | 15,650 | 135,919 | 5,146 |
| 2003/04 | 254,925 | 15,624 | 138,548 | 5,473 |
| 2004/05 | 326,584 | 14,594 | 147,688 | 5,601 |
| 2005/06 | 276,427 | 13,640 | 139,036 | 4,913 |
| 2006/07 | 270,476 | 13,973 | 134,765 | 4,521 |
| 2007/08 | 265,480 | 12,258 | 127,561 | 4,393 |
Since 2002, there has been a 30 per cent reduction in the area planted to apples and a 18 per cent reduction in the area planted to pears.
| State | Apples Total production tonnes | Apples Total area hectares | Pears Total production tonnes | Pears Total area hectares |
| VIC | 115,584 | 4,613 | 119,230 | 3,719 |
| NSW | 37,387 | 2,695 | 390 | 80 |
| WA | 31,932 | 1,513 | 8,053 | 360 |
| QLD | 29,521 | 1,512 | 542 | 56 |
| TAS | 28,523 | 1,355 | 768 | 54 |
| SA | 27,529 | 1,285 | 5,782 | 253 |
| AUS | 270,476 | 12,973 | 134,765 | 4521 |
| Variety | Production tonnes |
| Granny Smith | 65,076 |
| Pink Lady™ | 55,935 |
| Red Delicious | 39,100 |
| Gala | 36,990 |
| Fuji | 21,582 |
| Sundowner™ | 20,101 |
| Golden Delicious | 15,612 |
| Jonagold | 3,680 |
| Jonathan | 3,016 |
| Braeburn | 2,557 |
| All other varieties | 6,825 |
| Total - all varieties | 270,476 |
