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The UK imported a total of 91,337 tonnes of Irish beef in the first half of 2017, the latest data from the UK’s HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) shows.
For the UK, Ireland is the biggest source of imported beef. Compared to the same period in 2016, this is a 5% increase, when 86,980t were imported.
Beef imported for further processing by some of the major Northern Ireland processing plants is included in this figure. During the first half of the year, some 129,706t of beef were imported into the UK, the data shows.
Figures from the HMRC show that while the volumes of beef imported by the UK has stayed similar to the first half of 2016, an increased amount of beef came from other EU countries.
In the first half of 2017, 96% of beef imports came from the EU, up from 91% in the same period in 2016.
Other beef importers
After Ireland, the Netherlands is the second biggest source of beef imports for the UK with 10,397t imported in the first half of the year – 10% increase year-on-year.
More beef also came from Spain, Italy, Poland, France and Belgium during the first half of the year when compared to the same period in 2016.
Non-EU countries
Meanwhile, imports of beef from non-EU countries during the first half of the year stood at 5,758t and accounted for 4% of total beef imports.
This was down from the 11,113t imported during the same period in 2016, which accounted for 9% of total UK beef imports.
The data shows that Australia imported 1,201t in the first half of 2017 – a decrease of 54% on year earlier levels.
Argentina recorded a minimal increase in exports to the UK in the first half of 2017, the only non-EU country to do so.
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