Britain still key market for Northern Irish food and drink

Great Britain remains Northern Ireland's top food and drink market, with 44 per cent of all of the region's production going there in 2015, according to the latest official figures. More than a quarter of total food and drink exports - £1.3 billion - go to the EU especially the Republic of Ireland.

Customers in Great Britain bought food and drink worth £2.5 billion and in the Republic the figure was £708 million, 16 per cent of total sales.

The statistics show that output by Northern Ireland's food and drink industry increased by 1.1 per cent in 2015 to a value of £4.6 billion.

And overall, food and drink accounted for 21 per cent of Northern Ireland's manufacturing exports, reflecting the vitally important role of the industry to the Northern Ireland economy. The industry accounted for 28 per cent of manufacturing employment and 23 per cent of external sales, mostly to Great Britain.

But the rise marks a slight slowing of growth when compared to that from 2013 to 2014, when the industry grew by 1.5 per cent.

The figures come in a report from the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, compiled from data on the values of sales, exports, value added and number of employees from all food and drink sectors.

The most valuable markets for the Northern Ireland agri-food sector were those of beef and sheep meat, where sales increased by £21 million, and milk and milk products, which grew by £14 million.

Milk and milk products including powder and cheese is Northern Ireland's biggest food and drink exporter, with exports of £540 million on total output worth over £1 billion. Beef and sheepmeat had exports of £290 million on turnover of £1.3 billion.

Dairy and beef and sheepmeat account for just under a half of all sales.
Combined, these sub-sectors made up nearly half (49 per cent) of the total gross turnover.

The number of full-time workers directly employed by the food and drink sector here also rose to 21,048 in 2015 - marking a 1.6 per cent rise.