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Statistics 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 Survey.

• The food and drink manufacturing industry is the single largest manufacturing sector in the UK, with a turnover of £76.2bn, with a gross value added of £20.9bn[1], accounting for 16% of the total manufacturing sector.
  
  
• The industry employs up to 400,000 workers. This represents 15% of the overall manufacturing workforce in the UK[2].
  
  
• Our sector is an important trading partner with Europe: exporting nearly £11bn of food and non-alcoholic drink products a year, 77% of which go the EU. We are the world's eighth largest exporter of food and drink[3].
  
  
• 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 over 6,000 food and drink enterprises – many of which are small companies employing less than 10 people.
  
  
• Our sector invests over £1bn in to R&D[4] resulting in over 8,500 new products in 2011[5] (Mintel NPD database)
  
  
• Production in our sector has been the most resilient and stable of all manufacturing industries throughout the recession with the industry consistently producing at levels over 10% higher than the manufacturing average.
  
  
• Our industry has increased the productivity of its labour force over the last 10 years by over 50% leaving food and drink workers in the UK 70% more productive than the EU average[6].
  
  

Food and drink manufacturing has become a safe and rewarding environment to work in:

• Businesses in our sector have reduced their rate of injuries by over 50% over the last 20 years, one of the biggest reductions of any business sector in the UK[7].
  
  
• A recent FDF survey indicated that the average tenure for employees was just under 9 years with average earnings 5% higher than the national average[8].
  
  

Notes:
1. Information taken from latest ONS Annual Business Survey, food and non-alcoholic drink only.
2. From the Business Register and Employment Survey 2009 (BRES)
3. UK Food and Drink Export Performance 2009; Leatherhead Food Research
4. BIS R&D Scoreboard 2010
5. Mintel GNPD
6. Defra Food Pocket Book 2010
7. HSE accident and injury statistics
8. Survey conducted for IfM Value of Food & Drink Manufacturing to the UK