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Food

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There were almost 100,000 tonnes of bananas and 66,000 tonnes of apples imported in 2020. Nearly 80% of the imports of bananas came from Costa Rica (43,000 tonnes) and Belize (37,000 tonnes). The total value of the bananas imported in 2020 was €56 million. There were also 7,000 tonnes of pineapples imported from Costa Rica in 2020.

Over 55,000 tonnes of oranges and mandarins were imported in 2020, at a value of €56 million. The biggest import partners were South Africa (11,000 tonnes) and Spain (14,000 tonnes). There were also nearly 13,700 tonnes of lemons imported in 2020, 12,800 tonnes of grapes and 11,600 tonnes of pears.

 

X-axis labeltonnes
Nuts5691
Avocados6635.03943717052
Pineapples8089
Berries8569.24444628703
Lemons9770
Pears11622.9715091048
Grapes12853
Melons13729.4857899957
Mandarins27708.0753308172
Oranges28024.0521280189
Apples65673
Bananas99674

Ireland imported 75,000 tonnes of potatoes in 2020, with a value of €35 million. We also imported 38,500 tonnes of onions (€23 million), 25,000 tonnes of tomatoes (€46 million), 25,000 tonnes of cabbage (€26 million) and 20,000 tonnes of carrots (€12 million) in 2020. 

In 2020, Ireland exported 45,000 tonnes of mushrooms, at a value of €116 million.

X-axis labelValue €m000 tonnes
Potatoes34.869108024468375.3965336541743
Onions23.23203072702938.5030485471106
Tomatoes45.87173304575425.194371912456
Cabbage 26.495228171766124.629226295253
Carrots, turnips12.378966385186820.6536794168634
Lettuce 21.314205856994312.8407800025142
Mushrooms21.036535372678610.6364773969168
Cucumber11.72135710442777.22166616090225
Garlic9.565435371193754.96952145517927
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Exports of cow, sheep, pig meat and poultry amounted to almost €3.2 billion in 2020 with exports of bovine meat and offal accounting for over two-thirds of this value. There were 472,000 tonnes of bovine meat and offal exported in 2020, with a value of €2.1 billion. The graph below shows the relatively high unit value per tonne of bovine meat in comparison to that of pig, sheep and poultry.

X-axis label€m000 tonnes
Poultry129.52110.54
Pig meat and offal560.5224.69
Sheep meat and offal355.4864.04
Bovine meat and offal2127.58472.71
Table 6.1 Exports of meat and offal 2020
Product€million'000 tonnes
Bovine meat1,934388
Bovine offal19484
Pig meat517192
Pig offal4333
Sheep meat34257
Sheep offal147
Poultry130111
Total3,173872

Imports of cow, sheep, pig meat and poultry were valued at €573 million in 2020, of which almost 40%, or €223 million was pig meat. There were 63,000 tonnes of pig meat and offal imported in 2020, and almost 70,000 tonnes of poultry imported.

Table 6.2 Imports of meat and offal 2020
Product€million'000 tonnes
Bovine meat and offal11126
Pig meat and offal22364
Sheep meat and offal377
Poultry20270
Total573166
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In 2020, Ireland exported €2.7 billion of butter, milk and cheese. Butter accounted for 37% of the export value of these dairy products, recording exports of just over €1 billion. 

The UK is the largest export market for butter, milk and cheese, with exports of €767 million of these products to the UK in 2020. Exports of €260 million of butter and €150 million of milk to the Netherlands were recorded. There was €64 million of milk exported to China in 2020, with €55 million going to Nigeria. There was also €54 million of cheese exported to Japan and €48 million to Algeria.

Imports of milk were valued at €312 million in 2020, with €242 million coming from the UK. There were imports of €276 million of cheese in 2020, with €175 million also coming from the UK.

 

 

X-axis labelExports Imports
Butter101670
Cheese1034276
Milk679312
Table 6.3 Exports of dairy products 2020
Butter Cheese Milk
Country€million Country€million Country€million
Netherlands260UK463 Netherlands150
UK163Germany125 UK141
United States192Netherlands69 China64
Germany146Japan54 Nigeria55
Belgium70Algeria48 Algeria36
Rest of World185Rest of World275 Rest of World233
Total1,016 Total1,034 Total679
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Ireland exported almost €900 million of infant formula in 2020. Over 40% of these exports, valued at €364 million, were exported to China. The UK, France, Saudi Arabia and Germany along with China comprised the five largest markets for this product.

X-axis labelValue of Exports
China363.958161
UK91.2011081801373
France58.815907
Saudi Arabia42.845484
Germany34.556068
Hong Kong28.124793
Taiwan25.440137
Netherlands19.305666
Turkey16.967298
Iraq14.234645
Rest of World200.324468076699

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