The value of UK food, feed and drink exports rose 5% to £25.7 billion in 2025, but after adjusting for trade price inflation exports were 0.8% lower than in 2024, according to updated official statistics published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on 8 October 2026. Imports rose 6% to £67.8 billion in current prices and 5% in real terms.

The release updates provisional figures published in April 2026 with final HMRC trade data for 2025 and the latest ONS trade deflators, published on 11 September 2026. Against 2018, which Defra treats as the pre-EU Exit comparison, exports were 14% higher in current prices but 16% lower in real terms. Imports were 44% higher than in 2018 in current prices and 3% higher in real terms.

Drinks drag, dairy gains

Beverages had the greatest export value at £8,192 million, flat on the £8,196 million of 2024 in cash terms but down £470 million, or 5%, in real terms. Fish and fish preparations fell £175 million (8%) in real terms and miscellaneous edible preparations £125 million (5%).

Defra said those falls were largely offset by real-terms increases for dairy and birds’ eggs (up £171 million, 7%), coffee, tea, cocoa and spices (up £132 million, 7%) and cereals and cereal preparations (up £123 million, 5%). In current prices, dairy and birds’ eggs exports rose £340 million (16%) to £2,505 million, coffee, tea, cocoa and spices £266 million (15%) to £2,071 million, and meat and meat preparations £235 million (11%) to £2,363 million.

Defra’s data tables show that the real-terms fall was in trade with the EU. At 2025 prices, EU exports were £14.872 billion against £15.264 billion in 2024, while non-EU exports rose to £10.852 billion from £10.666 billion. In real terms, beverage exports to the EU fell to £2,893 million from £3,250 million.

Non-EU suppliers gain ground

On the import side, coffee, tea, cocoa and spices rose £1,544 million (26%) in current prices to £7,552 million, and £1,133 million (18%) in real terms. Meat and meat preparations rose £848 million (10%), and fruit and vegetables, the largest import category at £15,049 million, rose £600 million (4%).

Non-EU imports grew faster than EU imports. In current prices, non-EU imports rose to £20.744 billion from £18.548 billion, and EU imports to £47.026 billion from £45.52 billion. Non-EU meat imports rose to £2,193 million from £1,630 million, and non-EU imports of coffee, tea, cocoa and spices to £2,456 million from £1,808 million.

Defra’s tables say it is not able to attribute changes in trade to a single cause, and the release has no figures by partner country. Changes in data collection mean EU trade is not fully comparable before and after 2021 for exports, or 2022 for imports, and the ONS deflators may be revised. Provisional 2026 data is expected in April or May.

Industry figures for the first half of 2026 point to weaker export volumes this year. The Food and Drink Federation’s Trade Snapshot, published on 25 September, said food and drink export volumes fell 11.7% to 4bn kg, their third lowest level on record, while import volumes reached 19.1bn kg and the trade deficit reached £21.1bn, the largest since 2000. The FDF said exports to the EU fell 0.9% in value and non-EU exports 6.9%, with exports to the UAE down 23.4%, which it linked in part to the war with Iran, and exports to the US down 16.5%, which it tied to the 10% US tariff.

Our food and drink trade deficit is growing and is now the largest it’s been in over 25 years.

Karen Betts, Chief Executive, The Food and Drink Federation

F&B Today’s reading

  • Analysis: Price did the work in 2025. A 5% rise in export value alongside a 0.8% real-terms fall suggests UK exporters, taken together, sold dearer rather than more, and the FDF’s first-half 2026 volume data give no sign that the pattern has reversed.
  • Analysis: Non-EU markets supplied the real-terms growth in 2025, but the FDF’s 2026 figures for the UAE and the US show how exposed that route is to conflict and tariffs. Exporters cannot assume non-EU demand will keep compensating for a shrinking EU business.
  • Analysis: At home, faster growth in non-EU imports of meat and of coffee, tea, cocoa and spices is likely to mean more overseas competition for UK meat processors and a heavier import bill for manufacturers whose recipes depend on cocoa and coffee.