UK exports of food and drink to non-EU markets topped sales to the EU in the first quarter of 2021. At the same time, as a result of the on-going impacts of Covid-19 and changes in the UK’s trading relationships, EU sales were falling 47% compared with Q1 2020.
Sales to non-EU nations accounted for 55% of all UK food and drink exports, with exports to the EU having fallen by £2bn compared with Q1 2019. Exports to nearly all EU Member States fell significantly. In Q1 2021, sales to Ireland were down by more than two thirds, while sales to Germany, Spain and Italy declined by more than half since Q1 2020.
There has also been a return to strong growth in exports to East Asia, where there is high demand for quality UK food and drink. In Q1 2021, exports to China (+28.2%), Hong Kong (+3.7%), Japan (+6.2%) and South Korea (+18.5%) were all above the levels seen in Q1 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic triggered the early closure of hospitality sectors. The UK’s top three non-EU markets, US (11%), China (5%) and Singapore (3%), now account for 19% of the UK’s total exports, a figure of £713m.
Fdf.org.uk reports how, of the UK’s top 10 products imported from the EU from 2019 to 2021, vegetables dropped 13.9% and fruit 15.7%
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