Factsheet on the Irish Agriculture and Food & Drink Sector (May 2010)

Food and drink industry

The agri-food and drink sector accounts for 9% of Irelands economy-wide GVA or about 16 % of total industrial sector output (Census of Industrial Production, 2008), 10.5% of Ireland’s exports and 8.2% of total employment. (DAF 2008)
In 2010, Irish agri-food and drink exports increased by an estimated 11% to approximately €7.88 bn (Bord Bia 2011).
The UK was the main destination for Irish agri-food and drink exports in 2010 accounting for 44% of all exports. 34% of exports went to Continental EU markets while the remaining 22% went to international markets.

Graph of Irish agri-food and drink exports in 2010

The latest estimates of the distribution of our agri-food and drink exports in 2010 by sector was as follows: dairy products and ingredients (29%), prepared consumer foods (18%), beef (19%), live animals (3%), beverages (15%), pigmeat and poultry (6%), sheep and sheepmeat (2%), seafood (5%) and edible horticulture (3%).

In 2009, Gross Agricultural Output (GAO) was valued at €4.73 billion. (DAF)
The cattle category accounts for the largest share of GAO at 32 percent while milk accounts for 22 per cent. Other sectors to have a share in GAO include pig (6%), sheep (3%), cereals (2%), and forage plants (18%).

There were 6.62 million cattle in Ireland according to the Aim’s database on the 30th June 2010, this represents a 5% fall on prior year levels.
Irish beef production is predominately a grass based system, with 559,000 tonnes produced in 2010.
In 2010, Ireland exported an estimated 504,000 tonnes of beef worth approximately €1.51 billion.
In 2010, 339,000 cattle were exported live from Ireland worth approximately €183 million.

For 2010, the Irish sheep flock is estimated to have fallen by 3% to 4.64 million head, with the breeding flock falling similarly to 2.45 million head. (Bord Bia)
During 2010, Ireland exported an estimated 36,500 tonnes of sheepmeat which was valued at approximately €170 million.
France is the main market for Irish sheepmeat exports, accounting for approximately 51 per cent of total exports in 2010. The UK is also a substantial export market, taking 26% of shipments.

In the June 2010 CSO Livestock Survey there was 1.49 million pigs in Ireland, this represents a 1% increase on prior year levels.
In 2010, Ireland exported an estimated 130,000 tonnes worth approximately €317 million.
In 2010, the UK was the main market for Irish pigmeat taking over 50% of our total exports. Continental EU markets accounted for 29% of our pigmeat exports while the remaining 21% went to international markets.

In 2010, total milk output (incl. imports) amounted to 5,600 million litres.
From this total milk output, 493 million litres was consumed as liquid milk. In addition to this 135,000 tonnes of butter were produced in 2010. While 163,000 tonnes of cheese were produced in 2009.
In 2010, total dairy exports rose by an estimated 17% to €2.3 billion.

There are approximately 128,200 family farms in Ireland with an average size of 32.3 hectares per holding.
The total land area of Ireland is 6.9 million hectares of which 4.2 million ha is used for agriculture. (DAF)
Close to 80% (3.34 m ha) of Ireland’s farmland is in pasture, hay and grass silage (grassland), 11% (0.45 m ha) is rough grazing and 10% (0.42 m ha) is in crop production. (DAF)