New figures have shown that UK food and drink exports to the EU plunged by almost a quarter in the nine months after Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal took effect, compared to pre-pandemic levels, with a loss of £2.4bn in sales.
Exports to big European markets were hit hard, with sales to Spain down by more than half (50.6 per cent) on 2019 levels, Germany by 44.5 per cent and Italy by 43.3 per cent, according to the Food and Drink Federation. Sales to the industry’s largest overseas market, the Republic of Ireland, were down by more than a quarter.
