Stats at a Glance

  • The food and drink manufacturing industry is the single largest manufacturing sector in the UK, with a turnover of £74bn accounting for 15% of the total manufacturing sector. Ours is the fourth largest food and drink manufacturing industry in the world.
  • The industry employs some 470,000 people. This represents 13% of the manufacturing workforce in the UK. In addition, an estimated 1.2 million workers in ancillary activities depend on a successful food and drink industry for their jobs.
  • The sector is an important trading partner with Europe: exporting almost £10bn of food and drink products a year, two-thirds of which go the EU. We are the world's eighth largest exporter of food and drink.[1]
  • The industry is an important partner of British farming: buying 75% of all the UK's agricultural produce. All this economic activity is carried out by 6,657 food and drink enterprises – many of which are small companies, many employing less than 10 people.

1 Food from Britain

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Last reviewed: 31 Mar 2008