The surge in global food commodity prices has boosted the value of Irish exports by almost 25% in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period last year.

The value of dairy exports, excluding infant formula, was up 38% to €1.9bn, while meat was up 26% to €2.3bn.

The FAO food price Index, which is a composite index of global agri commodity prices, was up 23% in the same period.

Analysis of CSO data shows that farmgate milk prices in the first half of 2022 were up 37% compared to last year.

Irish food exports amounted to almost €7bn in the first half of this year, while drinks accounted for €950m. The US market demonstrated the strongest performance with food exports up 41% and drinks up 36%, amounting to a total of €731m.

It accounted for almost 10% of the value of Irish exports in the first half.

Exports to Britain, increased by 18% – well below overall performance.

Accounting for 24% of export value, it represents a fall of 2% on the same period last year.

By comparison, the proportion of total exports accounted for by EU 27, US and the rest of the world increased.

Exports to China continue to struggle, down 25% on the same period last year.

This is not unique to the Irish market, EU data for January to April shows an 11% decrease on the same period last year with pigment a key contributor.