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UK dairy exports down 10% in 2020
Thursday, 18 February 2021
By Kat Jack
UK exports of dairy products* totalled 1.32 million tonnes in 2020, down 10% on 2019. Exports were down across all the major product categories. Powders and concentrates had the sharpest decline, down 17% (29k tonnes). Cheese exports were down 15k tonnes (7%) on the year, at 193k tonnes for 2020. Although down from the highs of 2019, most categories were at or above 2018 export levels.
UK dairy imports also fell, down 6% on the year at 1.29m tonnes. Performance by product category was more variable. Most categories declined, but butter was steady and there was a 2% increase in imports of yoghurt and other fermented dairy products. Whey products had the sharpest decline, falling 31% (29k tonnes) on the year. The biggest decline in volume terms was imports of cheese and curd, down 41k tonnes (8%) against relatively high imports in 2019.
This reduction in trade is not surprising given the circumstances – the coronavirus pandemic disrupted trade and reduced demand in the UK and many other countries, impacting both UK imports and exports.
Overall, the UK managed to maintain a small trade surplus in volume terms (33k tonnes) in 2020, which it achieved for the first time in 2019. However, it should be noted that this includes trade in milk crossing the Irish border for processing, which has been around 700-800k tonnes in recent years. If this is excluded, the UK is in fact a net importer by a considerable amount.
*HS codes 0401-0406. Includes milk crossing the Irish border for processing.
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