Stats at a Glance
These statistics have been compiled from the latest industry data on food and
drink manufacturing and the most recent Office of National Statistics Annual
Business Enquiry.
-
The food and drink manufacturing industry is the single largest manufacturing
sector in the UK, with a turnover of £72.8bn, with a gross value added of
£21.6bn [1], accounting for 15% of the total manufacturing sector.
- The industry employs some 440,000 people. This represents 14% of the
manufacturing workforce in the UK.
- Our sector is an important trading partner with Europe: exporting over £9bn
of food and drink products a year, 79% of which go the EU. We are the
world's eighth largest exporter of food and drink [2].
- The industry is a key partner for British farmers: buying two thirds of all the
UK's
agricultural produce. All this economic activity is carried out by just over
7,000 food and drink enterprises – many of which are small companies employing
less than 10 people.
1. Information taken from latest ONS Annual Business Inquiry
2. UK Food and Drink Export Performance 2009; Leatherhead Food Research
Last reviewed: 07 Jul 2010