The European Union set an absolute record for banana imports in 2002 for its last year as EU-15. Provisional data provided by Eurostat shows that the four million tonne mark was exceeded with total consumption of 4 063 571 tonnes (after deduction of re-exports). The figure may even be underestimated by nearly 100 000 tonnes to judge by the figures for the use of import certificates (European Commission data). Banana consumption is now nearly 11 kg per person per year.