The value of EU agri-food exports for the 12-month period from July 2015 to June 2016 amounted to just over €129 billion, the European Commission’s latest monthly agricultural trade report has found.
This is a 2.1% increase compared to 2014-2015, the Commission has said.
There was a notable improvement in sales to the USA (+ €2.2 billion), China (+ €1,8 billion) and Saudi Arabia (+ €0.6 billion) in the 12-month period.
The sectors which have shown the greatest gains over the 12-month period are pigmeat (+ €986m), wine (+ €511m) and live animals (+ €502m), whereas there was a notable decrease from the value of 2014-2015 exports for raw hides and skins (- €1.1 billion), wheat (- €1.0 billion) and milk powders (- €695m).
Annual agri-food imports rose by 3.5% to €113 billion in 2015-2016, despite a 9,6% drop in the value of imports from Brazil.
Meanwhile, the tropical fruit, nuts and spices was the sector that showed by far the greatest rise in imports into the EU (+ €1.3 billion), continuing the steady increase seen in recent years.
There were also significant improvement in 2015-2016 for cocoa beans (+ €682m) and oilseeds other than soya beans (+ €624m).
Figures for the month of June give an export value of €10.9 billion – the highest June value on record – with the monthly net trade surplus rising to €1.39 billion, relative to €870m in June 2015, the report found.