As a result, the agri-food trade surplus rose by 1.3%, to €49.8 billion. The strong performance of EU agri-food exports to China continued, with a growth of €3.09 billion led by pig meat, wheat, and infant food. There was also a rise in the value of EU agri-food exports to Saudi, boosted by sales of barley and dairy products. A wide range of products propelled an increase in the value of EU agri-food exports to Switzerland, while wheat and various dairy products performed strongly in Algeria and Morocco, where the agri-food export values rose by €408 million and €393 million respectively. As for trade with the UK, EU imports from the UK dropped in value by €1.56 billion, while EU exports to the UK declined by €546 million. The decline in trade affected the majority of agri-food products, most notably wine, spirits and liqueurs, poultry meat, live animals and butter.

Regarding the USA, a reduction in the EU's intake of US soya beans and oilcakes contributed to an overall drop of €663 million in the value of imports, while the value of EU exports fell by €705 million, with spirits and wine the main products affected. There was, however, an increase in the export value of EU food preparations. Other countries where agri-food trade endured difficulties were Singapore, Hong Kong, Ukraine and India. With a rise of €713 million, Canada was the leading source of growth for agri-food imports to the EU, driven by intakes of rapeseed and wheat. In terms of product categories, remarkable growths were recorded in the export values of EU pig meat and wheat. Pet food, rapeseed and sunflower oil and coarse grains were amongst the other growing product categories during this period.

The full report is available online and further information on the agri-food policy can be found here.