The overall value of Irish food and drink exports was 6% higher in July 2026 compared to the same month last year, increasing from €1.612bn to €1.711bn.

The main contributor to this increase, as Figure 1 shows, was the €105.9m or 15.4% increase in the value of Irish dairy exports this July, compared to July last year. The value of beef exports (Figure 2) also increased by €4.6m to €253.2m year on year, with beef offal exports also higher, up by €1.2m to €12.3m. Sheepmeat exports in July were worth €32.6m, an 8.2% increase on the same month last year (Figure 3).

It was a less positive story for pigmeat, horticulture and cereals, and poultry. July was a particularly difficult month for pigmeat exports, with the value down by €6.8m, or 16.5%, to €34.5m, despite a less-than-2% drop in the volume exported. Horticulture and cereal export values were down by over 16% as well, to €22.2m, as there was a sharp decline of 21.1% in the volume exported. Poultry export value declined by 10% to €13.7m for the month, even though volume increased by 2%. The value of eggs declined by €1.7m, with volume down 21%

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Dairy exports

July was a particularly strong month for Irish dairy exports, with a 15.4% increase in export values for the month compared to last year, reflecting a 10.2% increase in volumes shipped (Figure 1a).

This performance was achieved despite a sharp decline in the value of butter exports during the month, down 21.3%, or €40.2m, to €148.9m. This was caused by the slump in global wholesale butter prices over recent months, and Irish butter exports would have been even lower but for a 9.3% increase in the volume exported in July, to 27,240t.

It was a much more positive story for Irish cheese exports in July, with their value up by a substantial €87.7m, or 57.4%, compared to July last year, to €240.4m. A 4,779t jump in the volume exported to 34,903t for the month contributed to the increase in cheese export values, and the balance was generated by higher export sales value.

July was also a good month for milk powders, led by skimmed milk powder, which recorded a €22.1m, or 40.3%, increase in value to €77.1m. There was a 21% increase in volume exported, to 27,832t. Full-fat milk powder export value increased by 5.2% to €97.9m, while whey exports jumped by 41.2%, or €14.9m, to €51.1m, despite a modest 2% increase in the volume exported, to 15,389t.

Export markets

The big story in Irish dairy markets in July was the dramatic growth in sales to the UK. Exports to Britain more than doubled, increasing by €79.6m to €156.9m, and sales to Northern Ireland increased by a substantial €17.1m to €52.4m. Most of July’s growth stemmed from a surge in cheese exports to Britain, increasing by €77.5m on July last year to €118.5m. Cheese exports to Northern Ireland increased by €7.2m to €11m.

The downturn in value of Irish butter exports in July compared with the year before reflects the collapse in wholesale butter prices. Despite a 21% or €12.9m decline to €48.4m, the US remained the largest market for Irish butter, with volumes down 6.6%. The Netherlands remained in second place at €36.6m in July, a €17.6m or 32.5% drop compared to July 2025. Butter exports to Germany were down again in July, falling to €5.8m, down 27.7% compared to July last year, despite the volume increasing by 31.6% to 1,409t.

Beef exports

Beef export volumes in July this year rose by more than 4,072t to 38,761t, compared to July last year (Figure 2a), which was the lowest July volume since 2018. This increase in volume underpinned the small 1.8% rise in export value for the month, which reflects the lower beef prices compared to last year’s record values.

The market for Irish beef exports is basically confined to Europe, with €129.1m of sales to the UK alone in July, an 11.1% or €12.9m increase compared to the same month last year. Sales to the EU were down 8.1% in July, with France remaining the largest market after the UK at €29.7m, less than 1% lower than a year ago. Italy is next on €21.2m, a €2.5m decline, followed by the Netherlands on €19.2m, a €940,595 or 5.2% increase on July last year. Sales to wider international markets were worth just under €10m, with Hong Kong the only market to exceed $1m in value for the month of July.

Sheepmeat

The good news for Irish sheepmeat exports in July was that they rose in value by €2.5m or 8.2% to €32.6m, but volume was down 6% for the month compared to last year, to 4,012t (Figure 3a). This is the lowest July total in the last decade, according to Bord Bia export data, and a long way below the 7,227t of sheepmeat exported in July 2020.

France remained the main export market for Irish sheepmeat, despite falling by 7% to €9.6m, followed by the UK, which jumped by 63.9% or €2.3m to €5.9m.

Germany is next on €4.8m, followed by Italy on €2.2m and the Netherlands on €2.1m. The only significant exporting of sheepmeat outside the EU in July was sales to Switzerland, worth €2.1m, while Canada is showing some potential as a market, with €352,749 of sheepmeat exports in July, a sevenfold increase on July last year.

Other exports

Despite the overall value declining by €2.3m, or 16.6%, the UK remained Ireland’s most valuable export market for pigmeat in July at €11.6m, with volume down 4%. There was a sharp fall in export values to China, down 24.2%, or €2.1m, to €6.6m, though sales to Japan more than doubled in July 2026 compared to last year to €5.2m. Overall sales to EU countries were down 26.1% to €4.5m.

Mushrooms make up the main export category in horticulture, with virtually all sales to the UK. The value of these was down 17.4%, or €2.4m, in July to €11.2m. Cereals is the next biggest sector in this category, and their exports fell by almost 29%, or €1.9m, to €4.7m in July compared to July last year.

As with mushrooms, most of the exports were to the UK (€4.3m), but in this case, Northern Ireland is the main market, worth €4m in July.

Poultry is a small export category, with the UK the main market, taking products to the value of €7.9m in July, with a further €2.7m exported to African countries.

Comment

Monthly figures need to be treated with some caution as they may include outliers. July’s data reflects the trend seen in the first half of the year where Irish food and drink exports were remarkably robust, if not quite on par with the record performance last year. It is also interesting to make comparisons to the same month in previous years.

In dairy, the exceptional performance of cheese exports to the UK more than offsets declines elsewhere, while beef exports are as dependent on the UK and EU as they ever were, and there is no indication that this will change anytime soon. For sheepmeat, the good news is that the value is increasing but, worryingly, volumes exported continue to trend down.