- Britain’s food and drink trade deficit has passed £21bn.
- UK food export volumes fell 11.7 per cent in the first half of 2026.
- Food imports reached 19.1bn kg, the second-highest level on record.
Britain is importing more food while its producers are struggling to sell as much overseas, pushing the country's food and drink trade deficit towards its highest level this century.
The gap between exports and imports has risen to more than £21bn, according to analysis by the Food & Drink Federation (FDF), as UK exporters face a combination of higher costs, trade disruption and weaker demand in some overseas markets.
Food and drink export volumes fell 11.7 per cent in the first half of 2026 to around 4bn kg. The FDF had already reported a sharp decline in the first quarter, when export volumes fell 8.9 per cent year-on-year to their lowest level in a decade outside the pandemic period.
At the same time, imports remained extremely high. The UK brought in 19.1bn kg of food and drink during the first half of the year, making it the second-highest first-half figure on record.
Why are UK food exports struggling?
The weakness is being felt both inside and outside the European Union.
Exports to the EU have continued to face additional costs and administrative complexity since Brexit. The FDF reported a 6.9 per cent fall in EU export volumes in the first quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier.
Beyond the EU, exports have also come under pressure. The FDF said non-EU exports fell 11.5 per cent in Q1, with exports to the US dropping by almost 28 per cent in value terms. At the same time, US food and drink imports into Britain increased by 11.5 per cent, narrowing the UK's food and drink export surplus with the US by 69.3 per cent to £110m.
The Middle East conflict has added another layer of disruption. The FDF has warned that higher transport, energy and ingredient costs are putting further pressure on food manufacturers, while sales to the region have also been affected.
For British producers, the problem is therefore not simply that overseas demand has disappeared. They are also having to compete with higher production costs at home.
The FDF said the cost of imported ingredients and raw materials was 38.6 per cent higher than in January 2020 in its Q1 analysis. Its latest industry survey also found that 91 per cent of manufacturers said business conditions were unchanged or worse in Q2, while rising costs were putting investment under pressure.
Why are imports rising?
While exports have weakened, imports have remained close to record levels.
Non-EU imports have been an important part of that growth. In Q1, imports from outside the EU rose 4.2 per cent in value terms, compared with 1.9 per cent growth from the EU. The FDF said imports from countries including New Zealand, South Africa and Brazil recorded strong growth.
Trade agreements have also opened the door to more overseas products. Imports from outside the EU have increased substantially since 2023, with Australia among the countries recording stronger sales to the UK.
The UK has also suspended tariffs on some manufactured food products, including chocolate and biscuits. The FDF has argued that this could make imported products more competitive against goods manufactured in Britain.
The National Farmers’ Union has described the widening deficit as a “wake-up call”, arguing that domestic food production should be treated as part of national security.
FDF chief executive Karen Betts has similarly warned that the growing deficit raises questions about food security at a time of geopolitical instability and climate-related disruption.
The figures do not mean Britain is running out of food or that imports are inherently negative. The UK has long relied on international food trade, and imports give consumers access to products that cannot be produced domestically at scale.
The bigger concern for the industry is the widening imbalance: Britain is buying more food from overseas while domestic producers are finding it harder to compete in some of the markets where they traditionally sell.
That leaves the government facing a difficult balancing act between keeping food affordable for consumers, maintaining open trade and ensuring British food manufacturers and farmers remain competitive.
