The World of Apples

Apples of France

202 varieties in the atlas came from France. The oldest is Chataignier, dated by 1200.

Map of where the apple varieties in the atlas came from A map of the world on the Equal Earth projection, with a dot for each variety at its place of origin.

Harvest

France grew 1,964,030 tonnes of apples in 2024, 2.0% of the world's harvest; it ranked ninth among the world's producers.1

1961 2024
The figures
YearTonnes
2024 1,964,030
2023 1,894,440
2022 1,785,660
2021 1,633,080
2020 1,743,360
2019 1,753,500
2018 1,740,350
2017 1,695,949
2016 1,823,123
2015 1,968,628
2014 1,847,551
2013 1,688,158
2012 1,306,333
2011 1,762,640
2010 1,751,269
2009 1,729,615
2008 1,701,752
2007 1,781,947
2006 1,679,328
2005 1,829,166
2004 1,800,177
2003 1,721,662
2002 1,995,306
2001 1,882,109
2000 2,130,274
1999 2,133,296
1998 1,765,375
1997 2,018,979
1996 1,980,069
1995 2,063,809
1994 2,157,952
1993 2,050,983
1992 2,371,861
1991 1,283,211
1990 2,326,000
1989 2,340,000
1988 2,582,000
1987 2,388,000
1986 2,738,000
1985 2,349,000
1984 2,868,000
1983 1,965,000
1982 1,977,000
1981 1,437,000
1980 2,902,000
1979 2,464,000
1978 3,100,000
1977 1,687,000
1976 2,497,000
1975 3,104,000
1974 2,757,000
1973 3,265,000
1972 2,553,000
1971 2,967,000
1970 3,903,000
1969 3,377,000
1968 3,568,000
1967 3,846,000
1966 2,796,000
1965 3,675,000
1964 3,424,000
1963 2,581,000
1962 5,050,000
1961 2,142,000

Growing regions

  • Normandy France's cider country: Normandy grew 68% of the nation's cider apples in 2025, for cider, pommeau and calvados

Varieties from France, oldest first

  • Coloured plate of Reinette Franche apples from W. Lauche, Deutsche Pomologie: Aepfel.

    Reinette Franche

    Named in 1540 and probably Norman; in a 2020 DNA study of over 1,400 apples it had the most parent–offspring links

    France, by 1540

  • Photograph of Calville Blanc d'Hiver apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, one cut across.

    Calville Blanc d'Hiver

    Described by Jean Bauhin in 1598; DNA points to Calville Rouge and Reinette Franche as its parents

    France, by 1598

  • Watercolour painting of Margil apples by Amanda Almira Newton.

    Margil

    A small, ribbed, richly aromatic old apple that DNA shows to be a parent of both Ribston Pippin and Cox's Orange Pippin

    France, probably by 1608

  • Coloured plate of Court Pendu Plat apples from W. Lauche, Deutsche Pomologie: Aepfel.

    Court Pendu Plat

    Flowers later than any other apple, so escaping spring frosts as the Wise Apple; first described shortly before 1613

    France, before 1613

  • Watercolour painting of Api apples by Deborah Griscom Passmore.

    Api

    A tiny, glossy, red-cheeked apple recorded in 1628 and said to have been found wild in a forest in Brittany

    France, by 1628

  • Watercolour painting of Reinette du Canada apples by Amanda Almira Newton.

    Reinette du Canada

    Probably French despite its name: first announced in Paris in 1771 as the monstrous reinette of Canada

    France, by 1771

  • Photograph of Reinette Grise du Canada apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, on the tree.

    Reinette Grise du Canada

    The russeted form of Reinette du Canada, identical to it at 16 DNA markers; recorded in Paris in 1805

    France, by 1805

  • M.9

    The world's most widely planted dwarfing rootstock, from a stock found near Metz by 1828 and numbered at East Malling

    France, by 1828

  • Bisquet

    Old yellow-green Norman bittersweet, cited in 18th- and 19th-century monographs; its name is said to come from Biscay

    France, recorded in the 18th or 19th century

  • Photograph of Florina apples.

    Florina

    Selected at Angers in 1977 from progenies sent from America; Europe's reference scab-resistant apple in the 1980s–90s

    France, 1977

  • R201

    A red-fleshed apple from a 2006 cross at Seiches-sur-le-Loir, France; sold under the trade mark Kissabel Rouge

    France, 2006

  • Binet Rouge

    Red-striped Norman cider apple of unknown origin, the seventh most planted cider apple in France in 1997

    France

  • Douce Moën

    A bittersweet despite its name, from southern Finistère; the most planted cider apple in France in 1997

    France

  • Kermerrien

    Bitter cider apple of Finistère, among the most planted in Brittany in the 1990s and much used in French breeding

    France

And 188 more in the catalogue, A to Z

Sources

  1. FAOSTAT: Production: Crops and livestock products, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Updated 31 December 2025. Supports: each country's apple harvest by year (item 515, apples, in tonnes, 1961 to 2024), the shares of the world's harvest and the ranks worked out from them, and which figures FAOSTAT estimated or imputed.