Latest trade figures show Ireland imported almost €2 billion worth of fruit and vegetables last year, as the number of local horticultural producers continues to decline.

In 2025 Ireland exported €492.5 million worth of fruit, vegetables and related products, compared with imports of produce totaling €1.97 billion.

That equates to a trade deficit of around €1.47 billion and underlines warnings from the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) earlier this month about Ireland’s “high reliance on the importation of fruit and vegetables”.

The CCAC has recommended that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) "review the potential for Irish horticulture production to reduce the risk to food security".

But in the meantime the latest trade figures highlight a significant vulnerability in Ireland's food system - Ireland exported 258,392 tonnes of fruit and vegetables last year but imported 1.19 million tonnes.

In short Ireland imported almost four times as much produce by value as it exported, and more than four and a half times as much by volume last year.

Fruit and vegetables

The fruit and vegetable trade deficit in 2025 highlights concerns repeatedly raised by growers about the state of Ireland’s horticulture sector and the competition that it faces.

The scale of imports also points to the extent to which the Irish domestic market relies on produce from overseas particularly at a time when growers are facing rising production costs, pressure on farm incomes and challenges around the viability of horticultural production.

The number of Irish growers has been steadily declining which has led to questions about the country’s capacity to maintain and expand domestic production of fruit and vegetables.

Last week Teagasc warned that a severe drought in many counties through July and into August this year in Ireland had "placed exceptional pressure on outdoor field vegetable production".

It also highlighted in its "2026 Drought and Its Aftermath: Impact and Recovery in the Irish Outdoor Vegetable Sector" report, the impact of widespread drought conditions across Europe this summer on vegetable and fruit supply chains.

"France reported vegetable losses of up to 100% on some unirrigated cauliflower, broccoli and lettuce crops. Ireland's food system leans on exactly these regions to fill gaps when domestic supply is under pressure, and that backstop cannot be assumed to hold as climate change intensifies.

"This is no longer a question of domestic production resilience alone. It is a supply chain and food security question," Teagasc stated.