June 8, 2018

EU still tops in global agri-food trade

The EU remains as the world's largest exporter and importer of agri-food products as its agri-food trade last year was valued at €255 billion (US$300.086 billion).

EU exports of agri-food products reached €138 billion ($162.38 billion) in 2017, up 5.1% from the previous year, while imports were valued at €117 billion (137.7 billion), resulting in a net trade surplus of €21 billion ($24.7 billion) in its agri-food trade, according to the 2017 annual agri-food trade report published on Thursday, June 7.

The total output of the EU's agricultural sector is estimated at €427 billion in 2017, with the food processing chain accounting for 7.5% of employment and 3.7% of total value added in the EU.

The share of exports in production value chain continuously increases, and exports are a driver for jobs and growth for the European agri-food sector.

"The success of agricultural trade is clearly linked to reforms of the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) that allow EU producers to be competitive on international markets. But it is also thanks to the worldwide reputation of EU products as being safe, sustainably produced, nutritious and of high quality", said Phil Hogan, commissioner for agriculture and rural development.

EU exports to all its current five main partners (the US, China, Switzerland, Russia and Japan) increased. The European Commission has also made recent progress on multiple bilateral trade negotiations, thus further opening new markets for EU agri-food products. These include the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada, which has been provisionally applied; the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Japan, which is currently in the process of ratification; and an agreement in principle with Mexico on the modernisation of the current trade agreement.

The EU exports a wide range of products from all parts of the value chain, from commodities to processed agricultural products (such as cheese) to highly processed food industry products. EU's flagship agri-food products for exports include food preparations and pig meat.

On the other hand, it imports products that are mostly used for animal feed and products that are used as ingredients in further processing, among others.