Prunes lowest, dates highest
Among common dried fruits, unsweetened banana chips (about 35 g of sugar per 100 g) and prunes (about 38 g) sit at the low end, while dates (66 g) and sweetened dried cranberries (about 65 g) close the top. Every dried fruit is still far sweeter gram for gram than fresh fruit — fresh grapes carry just 16 g per 100 g — because drying removes 80-85% of the water. The full ranking, the portion math and the storage times are below.
| Fruit (per 100 g) | Sugar | Calories | Fibre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banana chips, unsweetened | ~35 g | ~520 kcal | ~8 g |
| Prunes | ~38 g | ~240 kcal | 7 g |
| Dried figs | ~48 g | ~250 kcal | ~10 g |
| Dried apricots | ~53 g | ~240 kcal | ~7 g |
| Raisins | 59 g | 300 kcal | ~4 g |
| Dried cranberries, sweetened | ~65 g | ~310 kcal | ~6 g |
| Dates | 66 g | ~280 kcal | ~7 g |
| Fresh grapes (baseline) | 16 g | 69 kcal | ~1 g |
Unsweetened banana chips and prunes are the lowest-sugar common dried fruits, at roughly 35-38 g per 100 g.
Ranked from lowest to highest, the eight fruits in this guide run from about 35 g of sugar per 100 g for unsweetened banana chips to 66 g for dates. Prunes sit second-lowest at about 38 g, followed by dried figs at about 48 g and dried apricots at about 53 g. Raisins hold 59 g, sweetened dried cranberries about 65 g, and dates close the range at 66 g.
Two caveats move individual products up or down the ranking. Sweetened dried cranberries and glazed banana chips carry added sugar on top of the fruit's own, so an unsweetened version of either can sit several places lower than the standard version. The ingredient line on the pack matters more than the fruit name.
Even the lowest-sugar dried fruit dwarfs fresh fruit gram for gram. Fresh grapes contain 16 g of sugar per 100 g — less than half the value of prunes — because fresh fruit still holds most of its water. The comparison table keeps fresh grapes in the last row as a permanent baseline.
Removing 80-85% of the water leaves the sugar behind in a smaller, denser package.
Drying removes about 80-85% of a fruit's water. Sugar, fibre and minerals barely change in absolute terms — they simply end up packed into a much smaller mass, which is why every per-100-g figure climbs.
The apricot arithmetic shows the scale: 4-5 kg of fresh apricots yield about 1 kg of dried apricots. Freeze-drying goes further — strawberries fall from 91% water when fresh to about 3% after drying, so 100 g of fresh berries becomes roughly 10 g of chips.
Not everything concentrates. Vitamin C is fragile: a fresh apricot carries about 10 mg per 100 g, while the dried fruit keeps only around 1 mg. Dried fruit is best read as a fibre-and-energy food, not a vitamin food.
Dried fruit is about four times as energy-dense as fresh fruit, but it concentrates fibre just as much.
The calorie gap mirrors the sugar gap. Raisins pack about 300 kcal per 100 g where the fresh grapes they came from hold about 69 kcal — roughly a fourfold concentration of energy in the same weight.
Fibre concentrates too, and it is the strongest argument for keeping dried fruit in the snack rotation. Prunes provide about 7 g of fibre per 100 g, close to three times the 2.4 g in a fresh apple eaten with its skin, and dried figs reach roughly 10 g.
The practical reading: a small dried portion delivers fibre and sweetness together, but the calories arrive just as fast. That is why the portion, not the fruit, is the main control lever — and why the next section weighs it.
Each band assumes an airtight container; opening the jar often shortens every range.
The cards rank the fruits from the comparison table, lowest sugar first.
The references behind this guide are standard food-composition tables and public health portion guidance, not commercial sources.