Key industry data

The UK food & drink manufacturing sector employs more than 103000 EU workers - over 1/4 of our workforce
The UK is Ireland's largest trading partner for food & drink. 37% of its food & drink exports go to the UK (€4.6bn)
Food & drink contributes £31.1bn to the economy
Sugar intake from overall soft drink consumption is down over 17% since 2013
With the support of industry, the UK Government has set up the most ambitious sugars reduction programme anywhere in the world to help lower sugar in the national diet
The food & drink industry is the biggest manufacturing sector in the country, larger than automotive & aerospace combined
In 2018, total food & drink export figures were worth more than £23bn
Our top three export markets are Ireland, the USA & France
Grow exports of branded food and non-alcoholic drink by a third to reach £6bn by 2020
The food supply chain employs 4 million people & generates over £121 billion of added value for the economy each year
97% of our 7,290 food & drink businesses are SMEs
Our industry employs over 450,000 people
We will need 140,000 new recruits by 2024 to feed an expected population of 70m people & meet market demands
Our industry has a turnover of £104bn, accounting for 19% of total UK manufacturing
The top 3 opportunities identified for food and drink manufacturers in 2019 are domestic demand, healthy food products & investment

Last reviewed: 01 May 2019