Britain’s food and drink trade deficit has risen to more than £21bn, its highest level since 2000, as exports fall and imports reach near-record levels.
The UK’s food and drink trade gap has widened sharply, raising concerns over the competitiveness and resilience of the domestic food industry.
Analysis by the Food & Drink Federation (FDF) found that UK food and drink export volumes fell 11.7% year-on-year in the first half of 2026 to 4bn kg – only slightly above levels recorded during the Covid pandemic and following the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak.
Meanwhile, imports reached 19.1bn kg, the second-highest level recorded for the first half of a year.
The figures come as UK food and drink manufacturers face a combination of higher costs, trade barriers and geopolitical disruption.
Exports to the EU continued to fall – down 0.9% in value – amid the additional costs and complexity of trading since Brexit.
The FDF recorded an even larger fall in exports beyond the EU – down 6.9% in value terms. That was partly driven by disruption in sales to the Middle East, with exports to the UAE down by almost a quarter as a result of the US-Israel war on Iran. The US’s introduction of a 10% import tariff hit cross-Atlantic sales by 16.5%.
Food and drink imports were 19.1bn kg in the first half of this year, the second highest ever, only beaten by the same period last year. Imports from outside the EU are up more than a fifth since 2023 as restrictions have been eased through trade deals, particularly with Australia which now sends 25% more in value terms to the UK than a year ago including meat, oils, vegetables and even whisky.
Tom Bradshaw, the president of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, said: “These figures should be a wake-up call. At a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty, we cannot afford to take our food production capacity for granted.”
He said the widening trade deficit underlined the need for a long-term plan to support British production and recognise “a simple truth that food security is national security”.
“The pressures facing farm businesses are immense, from rising costs and regulatory burdens to extreme weather and global market volatility,” said Bradshaw. “If government is serious about food security, economic growth and national resilience, it must create the conditions that give businesses the confidence to invest, innovate and grow.”