Key industry data

The UK food & drink manufacturing sector employs 106,000 EU workers, over 1/4 of our workforce
Manufactured food and drink contributes more than £28bn to the economy, 2.3% more than 2017
In 2018, total sales of manufactured food and drink exceeded £74bn
FDF members are selling 14.3billion fewer teaspoons of sugars than they were in 2015
FDF members are selling: 4.4 million less kilograms of salt, 57.3 million fewer kilograms of sugars, 35.5 million less kilograms of total fat, 1 trillion fewer calories than they were in 2015
The food & drink industry is the biggest manufacturing sector in the country...larger than automotive & aerospace combined
Our industry employs over 430,000 people across every region and nation of the UK
Our industry has a turnover of more than £105bn, accounting for almost 20% of total UK manufacturing
96% of the UK's 7,400 food and drink manufacturing businesses are SMEs
In 2018, UK food and drink exports exceeded £23bn and went to over 220 countries worldwide
Our top three export markets are Ireland, the USA and France
The food supply chain employs 4.3million people and generates over £120billion of added value for the economy each year
The food and drink manufacturing sector delivered a reduction in food waste of over 30% on a per capita basis since 2011
FDF members reported an absolute reduction of 53.2% in CO2 emissions from their use of energy in manufacturing operations in 2018, compared to the 1990 baseline
Almost half of our members identified investment in new product launches, and increased demand for healthy food products as opportunities for 2020

Download infographic

Last reviewed: 14 May 2020