€124 million worth of beef imported into Ireland up to end of May
17,602 tonnes of beef valued at €124 million was imported into Ireland in the first five months of 2026, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed.
This compares with 13,602 tonnes of beef worth €89 million imported during the same period in 2025.
According to the latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) trade data, the UK accounted for the vast majority of these imports, followed by Spain and Brazil.
Between January and May this year, just over 16,000 tonnes of beef was imported from the UK. This meat was valued at €113.3 million.
In the first five months of 2025, UK beef imports to Ireland stood at just over 12,000 tonnes worth €79.6 million.
Beef imports
Spain was the second largest exporter of beef to Ireland in the period at 548 tonnes with a value of €2.9 million.
The CSO data shows a significant increase in the amount of Brazilian beef imports to Ireland.
Brazil accounted for the third highest beef imports to Ireland in the first five months of 2026 at 407 tonnes, valued at almost €2.3 million.
In the corresponding period last year, just 22 tonnes of Brazilian beef was imported into Ireland, with a value of €211,000.
The following table provides details of the top 10 countries for beef imports into Ireland in terms of value between January and May 2026:
| Country | Value | Tonnes |
| UK | €113,332,000 | 16,008 |
| Spain | €2,912,000 | 548 |
| Brazil | €2,261,000 | 407 |
| Belgium | €1,265,000 | 146 |
| France | €1,145,000 | 98 |
| The Netherlands | €855,000 | 125 |
| Germany | €590,000 | 51 |
| Denmark | €234,000 | 26 |
| Sweden | €214,000 | 45 |
| Canada | €177,000 | 49 |
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) said that "179,297 tonnes of beef valued at €1.5 billion were exported from Ireland in January to May 2026".
"Beef imports during this period therefore equated to just 8% of beef export value (and 10% of beef export volume)," they added.
The department noted that the beef import figures are provisional and are subject to ongoing revision by the CSO.
Europe
The latest data from Eurostat shows that almost 169,000 tonnes of beef and veal was imported into the European Union up to April.
Nearly 55,000 tonnes was imported from Brazil with 44,000 tonnes coming from the UK.
The EU statistics agency said 24,300 tonnes was imported from Argentina, 22,000 tonnes from Uruguay, with the remaining 24,500 tonnes coming from other countries.
