Back to Top

 Skip navigation

Food 2017

Open in Excel:

There were 93,000 tonnes of bananas and 62,000 tonnes of apples imported in 2017. Over 70% of the imports of bananas came from Costa Rica (39,000 tonnes) and Belize (27,000 tonnes). There were also over 8,000 tonnes of pineapples imported from Costa Rica in 2017.

Over 48,000 tonnes of oranges and mandarins were imported in 2017, at a value of €48 million. The biggest import partners were South Africa (9,700 tonnes), Spain (7,800 tonnes), Peru (5,100 tonnes) and Morocco and Egypt (both 4,500 tonnes).

X-axis label'000 tonnes
Bananas92.9782256489637
Apples62.0546693193471
Oranges26.5786981039955
Mandarins21.672277
Melons14.9730224150308
Pears12.3203707901717
Pineapples10.163494
Berries6.83751117707153
Avocados6.604

Ireland imported 72,000 tonnes of potatoes, 47,000 tonnes of onions, 29,000 tonnes of tomatoes, 23,000 tonnes of cabbage and 15,000 tonnes of lettuce in 2017. The total value of these imports was €175 million.

X-axis label'000 tonnes
Potatoes71.7516603190287
Onions46.8247363121829
Carrots, turnips etc31.428550901211
Tomatoes28.8135843198783
Cabbage23.2220176117179
Lettuce14.7704968576733
Open in Excel:

Exports of beef, sheep, pig meat and poultry amounted to almost €3.8 billion in 2017 with exports of bovine meat and offal accounting for over 60% of this value. There were 547,000 tonnes of bovine meat and offal exported in 2017, with a value of €2.4 billion. The graph below shows the relatively high unit value per tonne of bovine meat in comparison to that of pig meat, sheep and poultry.

X-axis label€m'000 tonnes
Bovine meat and offal2405.2579547.4469
Pig meat and offal793.1375277.173
Sheep meat and offal309.47662.2366
Poultry277.270856570151136.472467151826
Table 6.1 Exports of meat and offal 2017
Product€million'000 tonnes
Bovine meat1,943371
Bovine offal462176
Pig meat764250
Pig offal3027
Sheep meat29856
Sheep offal117
Poultry277136
Total3,7851,023
Open in Excel:

In 2017, Ireland exported almost €2.2 billion of butter, milk and cheese. Butter accounted for over 40% of the export value of these dairy products, recording exports of €935 million. 

The UK is the largest export market for butter, milk and cheese, with exports of €762 million of these products to the UK in 2017. Exports of €185 million of butter and €65 million of milk to the Netherlands were recorded. There was €31 million of milk exported to Nigeria in 2017, with €26 million going to Algeria. There was also €40 million of cheese exported to Algeria.

Imports of milk were valued at €324 million in 2017, with €282 million coming from the UK. There were imports of €226 million of cheese in 2017, with €139 million also coming from the UK.

X-axis labelexports imports
Butter93518.3027259714467
Cheese819.099225.922
Milk440.499323.935287982974
Table 6.2 Exports of dairy products 2017
Butter Cheese Milk
 €million  €million  €million
UK248UK410 UK104
Netherlands185Germany63 Netherlands65
Germany129Netherlands45 Nigeria31
Belgium127Algeria40 Algeria26
USA87France39 Germany19
Rest of World158Rest of World222 Rest of World195
Total935  819  440
Open in Excel:

Ireland exported almost €1.3 billion of infant formula in 2017. Over 40% of these exports, valued at €526 million, were exported to China. The UK, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and the Netherlands along with China comprised the five largest markets for this product.

X-axis labelvalue of exports
China525.937287
UK134.301
Saudi Arabia92.504811
Hong Kong91.725212
Netherlands56.504838425529
Germany44.0517183240243
Russia41.740814
France31.3913697991323
Turkey25.672617
Israel24.087047
Rest of World222.668833624333

Go to Beverages 2017