Exports Snapshot: Full Year 2018

Export statistics

Headline data indicates a modest increase in UK food and drink exports, up 2.5% (y-o-y) to £22.6bn in 2018, compared to growth of 9.7% in 2017.
Export growth to EU markets was positive (+4.3%), whilst exports to non-EU markets declined slightly over 2018 (-0.3%), raising the EU share of exports to 61.4%. Although there has been a fall in exports to the UK’s non-EU trading partners, three of the top 20 non-EU markets have shown growth rates exceeding 10% (China, Australia, and Singapore).
Positively, the food and drink trade deficit narrowed by 1.4% in 2018, standing at - 24.0bn, which is £348.0m smaller than the same period in 2017.
As shown in Figure 1, the overall value of exports has nearly doubled over the past decade, from £13.3bn in 2008 to £22.6bn last year.
Beer and salmon have reported consistent negative growth in 2018. This fall in salmon was mainly driven by the US (overall drop of £55bn, or 8,718 tonnes), and was closely followed by France, which saw a 6,406 tonne drop in salmon imports from the UK.
On the other hand, whisky, chocolate, and cheese, the UK’s top 3 food and drink exports, have all shown growth over 2018 in volume and value. Notably, chocolate and cheese both saw faster growth in export volume over 2018 compared with 2017.