The latest monthly report on agri-food trade published on November 13, 2020, shows that EU agri-food trade remained strong during January to July 2020, compared to the same period last year.
EU27 exports for January-July 2020 reached a total value of EUR 105.5 billion (an increase of 2.1 % compared to the same period in 2019), while EU27 imports attained a value of EUR 72.6 billion (an increase of 1.7 %).
As a result, for the first seven months of 2020, the agri-food export surplus stood at
EUR 32.9 billion, an increase of 3 % compared to the corresponding period in 2019. China continued to be the largest destination of growth for EU agri-food exports. Increased sales of pig meat, wheat, offal meat, and infant food propelled a growth of EUR 2.55 billion compared to the same period last year.
EU exports, such as barley and wheat, also performed strongly in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, most prominently in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Algeria.
The value of EU agri-food exports also rose in Switzerland and Ukraine. The value of agri-food imports from the UK fell by EUR 927 million and the value of EU27 exports to the United Kingdom fell by EUR 359 million.
Spirits and liqueurs, pasta and pastry, and chocolate and confectionary were amongst the main product categories that experienced declines. The strongest growths in export values were recorded in the cases of pig meat and wheat, followed by coarse grains, rapeseed and sunflower oils. The full report is available online