The fall in the Irish cattle kill in the first five months of 2026 is reflected in the drop in volume of beef exported. Total volume for the period fell to 184,329t and this is the lowest volume of beef exported in the past five years between January and May.

With less beef available for export, the total value from beef exports also declined, though only marginally, falling to €1.314bn compared with €1.376bn for the first five months of 2025. This means that a higher price per kilo was achieved for the beef exported in 2026 compared with last year.

When the total value of beef exported is divided by the total volume, the value per kilo is considerably higher. It increased to €7.13/kg, up from €6.68/kg in the first five months of 2025, and this is the highest value per kilo ever achieved for Irish beef exports.

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With the overall decline in export volumes, sales to all markets have fallen. The UK remained the largest export market for Irish beef in the first five months of 2026. This is despite a significant drop in volume to 85,156t, down from just over 98,000t in the same period last year, and it is in fact the lowest it has been in any of the past five years.

There was also a drop off in export volumes to the 27 EU countries, down from 94,469t in the first five months of 2025, to 89,078t in the first five months of this year. France is the largest export market in the EU for Irish beef, taking just over 26,000t in the first five months of the year with Netherlands next on 12,717 tonnes followed by Italy on 12,471 tonnes.

The UK and EU are the only significant export markets for Irish beef in 2026, with sales to Asia and North American markets negligible at present.

Other exports

Dairy remains the largest Irish agrifood export in 2026 despite a drop in value from €2.691bn in the first five months of last year to €2.552bn in the first five months of this year.

The value of sheep meat exports was also down slightly, falling from €169.2m between January and May last year to €168.7m in the same period this year.

However, the volume of sheep meat exported continues to fall with just 21,629t exported in the first five months of the year, down from 22,483t in the same period last year and well below the 30,312 tonnes exported in the first five months of 2023.

Pig meat export volumes increased during this period, rising from 83,588t last year to 85,983t this year, but there was a sharp drop in the value of pig meat exported.

It fell by over 17m to €181.5m which is the lowest value for Irish pig meat exports in the past five years.

The value of horticulture and cereals export was also down in the first five months of this year, falling from €138.7m last year to €118.6m this year as were poultry exports (including eggs), which fell from €61.3m in the first five months of 2025 to €54.6m in the same period this year.