Yesterday saw the release of Bord Bia’s Exports Performance and Prospects Report 2023/24, which revealed the value of Irish agri-food exports last year.
In what was a challenging year for various reasons, Irish food exports saw a 4% decline in value compared to 2022, with exports amounting to around €16.3 billion last year.
However, that was on the back of a “record breaking” 2022, which saw the value of exports increase 22% on 2021.
Export value in 2023 remains 24% higher than in 2019.
Agriland has covered the most important points from the report across the various commodity categories.
Looking in more detail at the destination for Irish agri-food exports in 2023, exports to the EU saw a slight decline in 2023 of 2%, and were worth €5.8 billion last year.
The share of total exports destined for the EU market remained at around 36% in 2023, a similar figure to 2022.
France, Germany and the Netherlands accounted for 60% of sales to the EU. However, the combined value of sales to these markets declined by 7% last year, due to lower dairy exports.
The UK remains the largest single-country destination for Irish food and drink exports, valued at an estimated €5.6 billion last year.
The report estimates the share of total exports destined for the UK in 2023 at 34%, up 2% on 2022.
This share of exports remains lower than the trading levels before the UK’s referendum to leave the EU, Bord Bia said.
The increase in exports to the UK in 2023 is largely as a result of higher exports of meat and livestock; drink; and prepared consumer foods (PCFs), which, combined, increased in value by some €250 million.
The value of trade to international markets (i.e. outside the UK and EU) notably fell by 10% in 2023 to €4.9 billion. This decline reflected reduced exports to North America, particularly drink.
As well as that, exports to Asia were lower in 2023 across almost all categories, notably dairy and pigmeat, decreasing by 3% and 24% respectively.
In 2023, 30% of Irish food and drink exports, in terms of value, went to international markets, a decrease from the 32% export share in 2022.