"Impressive increase of EU agri-food exports"

The value of EU agri-food exports increased by €1 billion between November 2016 and November 2017 to €12.7 billion, according to the latest monthly trade report from the European Commission. With monthly agri-food imports of around €10 billion, the monthly trade balance in agri-food products remains around €2.7 billion.

Wine saw the highest year-on-year export growth in November, increasing by €125 million; sugar exports grew by €79 million compared to November 2016 while exports of spirits and liqueurs rose by €71 million.

In contrast, EU wheat and other cereal exports experienced the biggest drop over the year, falling by 29% (or €1.7 billion) and 15% (or €0.3 billion) respectively. Pork exports also saw a dramatic annual decline, of 9% or €47 million.

In terms of markets, the US, Russia and Asia markets remain the most dynamic for EU agri-food export growth; sales to the US were up 7% (or €1.5 billion), while Russian exports grew 17% (up €0.9 billion). As for Asian markets, exports to China increased by 6% (an additional €0.7 billion), to Japan by 12% (€0.7 billion) and Korea by 17 % (€0.4 billion).