This was driven by a return to growth in China, Singapore, Australia, Japan and the Gulf region. This increase means non-EU exports are now almost back to pre-Covid levels of trade.
The fastest growing major export markets outside the EU were Colombia (+142.6%), Mexico (+111.2%), Chile (+105.4%) and Brazil (+87.2%). This increase has been driven by a recovery in sales of whisky and vegetable oils, supported by increased demand for other UK products growing rapidly from a much lower baseline.
Dominic Goudie, head of international trade at the FDF, said: “The return to growth in exports to non-EU markets is welcome news, but it doesn’t make up for the disastrous loss of £2Bn in sales to the EU. It clearly demonstrates the serious difficulties manufacturers in our industry continue to face and the urgent need for additional specialist support.
“At the same time, we are seeing labour shortages across the UK's farm-to-fork food and drink supply chain, resulting in empty spaces on UK shop shelves, disruptions to deliveries and decreased production. Unless steps are taken to address these issues, the ability of businesses to fulfil vital export orders will be impacted.”
A combination of the ongoing impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and new barriers to trade resulting from the new trading arrangements have led to a fall in exports to the EU of more than a quarter since H1 2019.