The value of Irish agricultural output more than doubled in the 10 years from 2014 to 2023, according to a report released by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine today (Wednesday, December 4).
The department released its Annual Review and Outlook for Agriculture, Food and the Marine 2024 today, which said that agri-food now accounts for 9% of goods exported, and accounts for 6.4% of total employment in the country.
Between 2014 and 2023, the value of agricultural output in Ireland increased by 53%.
Around 171,400 people were employed in the agri-food sector in 2023, an increase of 3.5% on 2022. These included farmers on 135,000 farms.
There was €6.4 billion worth of dairy products exported in 2023, with both butter and cheese exceeding €1 billion, while there was almost €3 billion worth of beef products exported.
The UK remained our largest trading partner, with 38% or €6.8 billion of agri-food product exports in 2023. EU countries accounted for 34% at €6.2 billion, while the rest of the world accounted for 28% at €5.1 billion.
The US was our second largest export destination, and the Netherlands remained our third largest agri-food destination, with exports totaling almost €1.6 billion for each destination.
Commenting on the new department report, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue said: “The agri-food sector is our largest and most important indigenous exporting sector and plays a critical role in the environmental, societal and economic sustainability of Ireland.
“We have seen the ongoing resilience of our farmers and fishers, food producers, processors, and distributors as they experienced disruption and higher input prices caused by continued market disruption in recent years.
“Despite ongoing pressures, the sector has demonstrated its adaptability and strength, continuing to deliver safe and nutritious food and drink not only in Ireland but to people all around the world,” Minister McConalogue added.
To coincide with the launch of the report, the minister also confirmed the launch of the new Food Vision 2030 strategy ‘Dashboard’, which is now live. The dashboard is being launched on a phased basis, and is part of the implementation and monitoring of Food Vision 2030.
The lengthy Annual Review and Outlook for Agriculture, Food and the Marine 2024 report said that beyond direct employment and economic activity, the economic multiplier coefficients, which measure the direct and indirect effects of activity in the agri-food sector, range from 1.75 for seafood to as much as 2.0 for dairy and food processing and 2.5 for beef.
The report also noted that it has previously been estimated that, when the value of inputs imported and profits repatriated are taken into account, the agri-food sector typically represents a significantly higher share of Irish net foreign exchange earnings from merchandise exports that its 9% share of gross merchandise exports.
This reflects the contribution of agri-food to the net inflow of funds into Ireland, the report said.
The report also said that Irish farmers continue to face elevated costs, with input prices more than 25% higher than 2021 in 2023, despite falling 7% year-on-year. Family farm incomes in 2023 fell across all farming systems as compared to 2022.
While general inflation has fallen below 2% and deflation has been recorded in agricultural input prices on an annual basis to date in 2024, costs to farmers are still significantly higher than they were prior to early 2021, the report said.
It is estimated that the agri-food sector, which is classified as primary production (agriculture, fishing and forestry), along with food and beverages manufacturing and the wood processing sector, accounted for in the region of 3.5% of gross value added (GVA) at factor cost in each year over the past three years.
GVA at factor cost is the GVA at market prices, less any indirect taxes, plus any subsidies.
The GVA at factor cost in the agri-food sector has grown from €12.6 billion in 2014 to €17.3 billion in 2022, or 37% growth over the ten year period.
Agricultural output at producer prices was 53% higher in 2023 than it was in 2014. While intermediate consumption was up by 51% in the same period, operating surplus rose by
19%.