In 2017, Ireland imported over 72,000 tonnes of potatoes, 62,000 tonnes of cheese, 72,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish and almost 70 million litres of water. In addition, almost 10,000 tonnes of tea and over 21,000 tonnes of coffee were imported in the year.
In 2017, €7.7 billion of Food and beverages were imported, an increase of almost €500 million on 2016, and an increase of €1.5 billion, or 24% when compared with 2012.
Ireland exported €12.3 billion of Food and beverages in 2017, giving a surplus in this sector of €4.6 billion. Exports of Food and beverages have increased by 38% between 2012 and 2017.
The United Kingdom is both our biggest export and import partner for Food and beverages. In 2017, Ireland exported almost €4.6 billion of Food and beverages to the UK, and imported €3.7 billion.
The USA is the next biggest export partner of Food and beverages, with just over €1 billion of exports in 2017. This has more than doubled since 2012, when €440 million of exports of Food and beverages was exported to the USA.
| X-axis label | exports | imports |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 8.63111332010066 | 5.12987716616192 |
| 2008 | 7.99893252476146 | 5.19598191483123 |
| 2009 | 6.99070118401209 | 4.90805235900933 |
| 2010 | 7.78174738786495 | 5.13085330606033 |
| 2011 | 8.6031301701442 | 5.52916394480202 |
| 2012 | 8.9265091844817 | 6.17307045208716 |
| 2013 | 9.39215258202128 | 6.54907663719855 |
| 2014 | 10.0209194444288 | 6.67909163726372 |
| 2015 | 10.6873833056917 | 7.15220634118691 |
| 2016 | 11.054354538173 | 7.23879815011879 |
| 2017 | 12.283453396734 | 7.69977201311368 |
Go to Food 2017
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.