{"id":1576,"date":"2026-03-31T00:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T00:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/1576\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T00:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T00:18:08","slug":"uk-food-and-drink-exports-hit-record-value-but-still-lag-behind-pre-brexit-volumes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/1576\/","title":{"rendered":"UK food and drink exports hit record value, but still lag behind pre-Brexit volumes."},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body-skinny\">Reaching an unprecedented total of \u00a325.6 billion (up 4.8% year on year), food exports increased by a healthy 6% in terms of volume, but are still lower than their pre-Brexit peak, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body-skinny\">Released as part of the body\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fdf.org.uk\/globalassets\/resources\/publications\/reports\/trade-reports\/2025-trade-snapshot.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.fdf.org.uk\/globalassets\/resources\/publications\/reports\/trade-reports\/2025-trade-snapshot.pdf\">2025 Trade Snapshot<\/a>, the data also revealed that imports reached a historic high of \u00a366.9 billion, up 5.9% compared to 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body-skinny\">Despite this record high in value \u2013 driven in part by the considerable inflation that has gripped the sector in the post-pandemic era \u2013 export volume is still over a quarter (27%) lower than in 2019, reaching 8.9 billion kg in 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body-skinny\">EU food export volumes have been particularly affected, due to the added complexity that businesses face in trading with the UK\u2019s largest trade partner, with volumes tracking nearly a third (31%) lower in 2025 than 2019 levels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body-skinny\">Notably, the UK\u2019s non\u2011EU food imports are growing faster than those from the EU, with non\u2011EU imports now making up 30.9% of the UK\u2019s total imports, increasing from 29.3% in 2024, driven by business with countries such as Brazil and Canada.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body-skinny\">The FDF also highlighted the significant impact of Donald Trump\u2019s tariff uncertainty on global supply chains, with the UK\u2019s exports to the US dropping 8.9% in H2 2025 compared to H2 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body-skinny\">This is in stark contrast to the 18.1% rise recorded in the first half of 2025, before the full impact of the new tariff regime was felt.<\/p>\n<p>Also read \u2192 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foodmanufacture.co.uk\/Article\/2026\/03\/26\/iran-war-expert-discuss-its-impact-on-the-uk-food-sector-and-wider-economy\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"b-article-body-interstitial-suggestion\" aria-label=\"Open related story\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\">Turmoil in Tehran: How the Iran War will impact UK food prices<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body-skinny\">The rapidly evolving situation in the Middle East, resulting from the joint US\u2013Israeli intervention in Iran, will serve to further complicate matters, with food and drink manufacturers already facing higher costs, including transport and logistics, which will impact product pricing and competitiveness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body-skinny\">On a more positive note, UK food and drink businesses have gained momentum in growing markets across the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body-skinny\">Very promising export growth was, for example, seen across fast-growing economies such as Indonesia (52%), Colombia (153.7%) and India (12.4%).<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body-skinny\">\u201cBritish food and drink is sought after worldwide \u2013 it is known for its high quality, innovation, and connection to our cultural heritage. It\u2019s good to see some British products flying in overseas markets, and others holding their own in tough trading conditions,\u201d said Karen Betts, chief executive of the FDF.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body-skinny\">\u201cBut rising production costs, tariffs and behind\u2011the\u2011border barriers, as well as worsening household budgets in some markets, mean that real export growth continues to be challenging. Conflict in the Middle East only compounds this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body-skinny\">\u201cWith export volumes still far from pre\u2011Brexit levels, the government needs to step up and support exporters to enter and become established in global markets. The EU SPS agreement won\u2019t be easy, with some businesses needing to reconfigure their supply chains, so ensuring that every UK food and drink business understands the regulatory changes ahead is vital \u2013 whether they trade with the EU or not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body-skinny\">Food exports to members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans\u2011Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) also increased 7.8% in volume terms in 2025, following the UK\u2019s accession to the trade bloc in December 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reaching an unprecedented total of \u00a325.6 billion (up 4.8% year on year), food exports increased by a healthy&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1154,1155,1156,1157,1158,1159,1160,1161,1162,1163,1164,1165,1166,1167,1168,1169,1170,1171,1172,1173,1174,1175,1176,285,1177,5,6,1178,1179],"class_list":{"0":"post-1576","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-camion","9":"tag-cargo","10":"tag-color","11":"tag-colorful","12":"tag-country","13":"tag-delivery","14":"tag-direct","15":"tag-field","16":"tag-fingers","17":"tag-freeway","18":"tag-isolated","19":"tag-landscape","20":"tag-logistics","21":"tag-lorry","22":"tag-motorway","23":"tag-moving","24":"tag-pictorial","25":"tag-polarized","26":"tag-rural","27":"tag-side","28":"tag-speeding","29":"tag-sunrise","30":"tag-trailer","31":"tag-transport","32":"tag-trucks","33":"tag-uk","34":"tag-united-kingdom","35":"tag-utility","36":"tag-white"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}