Brexit Britain continues to eat EU food faster than any other country in the world

Latest figures show UK consumed over one-fifth of EU’s agricultural exports

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2023

The EU’s farmers are dependent on UK consumers as their No.1 export market

If the UK stopped buying their produce, the EU’s farmers would lose 21% of their total export sales outside the EU. When it comes to foodstuffs it’s even higher.

Figures released by the EU Commission on Wednesday (03 May 2023) and analysed in detail by Facts4EU have revealed just how dependent the EU’s agricultural sector is on sales to the United Kingdom.

In 2022 the UK consumed €47.8bn of the EU’s agricultural output, including livestock and feed. This is 65% higher than the EU’s second-biggest export market for agriculture : the United States.

Yet when it comes to importing agricultural produce, the EU shuns the UK and prefers to buy from a country half-way around the world : Brazil.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

The UK is still the EU’s top world market for foodstuffs

In foodstuffs alone we bought €27 bn from the EU

  1. UK : 22%
  2. USA : 16%
  3. China : 6%
  4. Switzerland : 5%
  5. Russia : 4%

[Source : EU Commission’s statistics agency, 03 May 2023.]

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2023 - click to enlarge

The UK bought £47.8 bn of the EU’s total agricultural exports in 2022.

Agriculture may be a small part of the UK’s economy, but in the EU it matters

In 2022, the EU’s exports of agricultural products accounted for 8.9% of the total extra-EU international trade in goods. It exported more than it bought in, giving it a trade surplus of €33bn last year for the agricultural sector alone. Trade in agricultural products is central for the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

In the last 20 years between 2002 and 2022, EU trade in agricultural products has tripled, equivalent to an average annual growth of 5.6 %.

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The UK is the EU’s top buyer of agricultural produce – by far

In terms of export partners in 2022, the United Kingdom was the EU’s main buyer with a 21% share of extra-EU exports of all agricultural products. The UK bought a staggering €47.8 billion (approx £42 billion GBP) of the EU’s agricultural output – in the last year alone.

Brexit Britain was by far the largest export market for the EU’s farmers. The second-largest was the United States (13%; €29.0 billion), then China (7%; €15.2 billion), Switzerland (5%; €11.5 billion), Japan (4%; €8.3 billion) and Russia (3%; €7.0 billion).

The UK dominates the buying market for all types of agriculture from the EU

The EU Commission has four main categories for agricultural produce: animal products, vegetable products, fats and oils and foodstuffs. Foodstuffs is the largest. It doesn't matter which one you choose. Brexit Britain is the EU's No.1 market for each of them.

  • Animal products : UK is No.1 (€10 bn)
  • Vegetable products : UK is No.1 (€9 bn)
  • Fats and oils : UK is No.1 (€2 bn)
  • Foodstuffs : UK is No.1 (€27 bn)

Sadly, the EU does not return the favour for British farmers

When it comes to buying other countries’ agricultural produce, the EU buys more from a country half-way around the world (Brazil) than it does from the United Kingdom which is on its doorstep.

Extra-EU imports originated mostly from Brazil (10%; €19.9 billion), then the United Kingdom (8%; €16.4 billion), Ukraine (7%; €13.1 billion), the United States (6%; €12.3 billion), China (almost 6%; €10.8 billion) and Norway (5%; €9.3 billion).

Observations

The EU’s statistics agency considers N.I. as part of the EU

In our analysis and report above we have referred to “the UK”. In fact this is not accurate. The EU Commission’s data excludes part of the sovereign territory of the United Kingdom. That part is of course Northern Ireland, because for export purposes the EU’s statistics agency includes N.I. as being part of the EU, not the UK.

This situation has continued following the imposition of Rishi Sunak’s “Windsor Framework”.

Unfortunately our limited resources mean that we can’t separately analyse the EU27’s sales of agricultural produce to N.I. but it’s clear that this would only increase the UK’s percentages we have quoted above.

Why aren’t British supermarkets sourcing cheaper foodstuffs from the non-EU world?

All British readers – and those in the EU – will have experienced the rampant food price inflation when they go to the supermarket for their weekly shopping. In a report last month we even showed how this was higher in the EU than in the UK, but sadly this was not something which the BBC wanted to cover.

The simple fact is that for decades the EU has been involved in a protectionist and anti-competitive conspiracy to protect its farming sector. In short, while the UK was a member of the EU it had to impose exorbitant tariffs on non-EU goods entering the United Kingdom.

This is no longer the case. We would like to ask whether supermarket purchasing departments have truly woken up to the fact that much more competitively-priced products might now be available from around the world.

Now that would certainly be yet another Brexit benefit.

We must get reports like this out there

Reports like the one above take far longer to research, write and produce than many people realise. If they were easy, readers would see other organisations also producing these daily. However, there’s little point in the Facts4EU.Org team working long hours, seven days-a-week, if we lack the resources to promote them effectively – to the public, to MPs, and to the media. This is where you come in, dear reader.

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[ Sources: EU Commission official statistics ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sat 06 May 2023

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