In 2024, Ireland recorded a 28% agri-food trade surplus of €5.2 billion, figures show.

Agriculture and the agri-food sector continue to play a vital role in Ireland’s economy, and last year, agri-food exports were valued at a record €19.1 billion, accounting for 6% of modified gross national income and 8.6% of merchandise exports in terms of value.

This is an increase of close to €1 billion or over 5.4% by value compared to 2023, and an increase of approximately 1% by value on the previous peak level achieved in 2022.

This data is compiled in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Annual Report 2024, which has just been published.

Last year, the UK remained Ireland’s largest agri-food export destination, accounting for 38% of total agri-food exports.

Exports grew by €461 million by value, from €6.8 billion in 2023 to €7.3 billion in 2024.

The top three export categories in 2024 were dairy produce at €6.5 billion, beef at €3.1 billion and beverages at €2.2 billion, accounting for €12 billion or 62% of total agri-food exports.

Full-year export values were driven by beverages, which were up €288 million or 15%.

Dairy produce (up 2%), beef (up 5%), miscellaneous edible products and preparations (up almost 26%), fruit and vegetables (up 52%) also contributed to this increase.

More than 85% of Irish dairy production is exported and in general, there are few restrictions on dairy produce exports.

In 2024, Ireland exported dairy products to approximately 140 countries with a value exceeding €6 billion for the third year in a row.

This represented a 13.2% volume growth and 2.4% value increase compared to the same period in 2023.

The value of dairy exports has increased by approximately 25% since 2020.

Butter is Ireland's leading dairy product in terms of value of exports and had an exceptional year in 2024 – in both the US and continental Europe – and for the sixth consecutive year the value of Irish butter exports exceeded €1 billion in 2024, a 21% increase on 2023 value.

The volume of butter exports has decreased by 4% from 2023. Butter accounted for 22% of total dairy exports in 2024.

In terms of product mix, looking at the year 2024, fat-filled powders were Ireland’s leading export by volume, accounting for 22% of the dairy exports (1.2% by value) followed by follow-on formula (16% by volume and 13% by value), cheese (15% by volume and 22% by value) and butter (13% by volume, 25% by value).

Looking at market destinations, the EU accounts for 40% of the value of Irish dairy exports.

Export certification provides the necessary assurance to an importing country’s governments and regulatory agencies in relation to Ireland’s status as a safe, secure, and sustainable source of agri-food products.

In 2024, 25,722 export certificates were provided to the dairy industry in total, which was a slight increase on the total provided for 2023.

Of these, 13,814 were health certificates, 11,781 were veterinary certificates and 127 were intracommunity certificates.

CSO data shows that 491,948 tonnes of beef worth over €3.1 billion was exported in 2024.

In comparison with 2023, export volumes were up 7,504 tonnes (1.5%) in volume terms and €141 million (4.6%) in value terms.

The UK accounted for 46% of total beef exports by value and 42% by volume in 2024.

EU markets accounted for 47% of exports by value and 46% by volume.

The main EU markets in order of magnitude were France, Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Sweden.

Other significant markets outside Europe were China, the Philippines, Japan, Canada and the US.

According to the CSO, sheepmeat export values decreased by €19.3 million (or 5%) to €394 million, while volume decreased by 11,492 metric tonnes (or 18%) to 53,281 tonnes.

The top 10 export destinations cumulatively accounted for more than 95% of sheepmeat exports by volume and value.

Of these, France and Germany were the principal EU markets accounting for 53% of total exports in value and 51% in volume terms during 2024.

The UK remained an important destination market, representing 13% and 17% of exports by value and volume respectively.

Other significant markets were the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland.

According to CSO figures, the value of pigmeat exports was €889.4 million last year.

Pigmeat exports represent 4.7% of all Irish agri-food exports in terms of value.

The UK remains the largest export destination for Irish pigmeat with just over 84,000 tonnes of pigmeat valued at €455 million exported in 2024, representing 51% of total export value for the sector.

UK exports saw an increase on 2023 of 6.8%. Markets such as China, Denmark, and Australia saw a decrease in value on the previous year. Chinese exports were valued at €103 million, a decrease of 4% on 2023.

The number of producers of hen eggs was 272 in 2024, with a corresponding flock capacity of 3.95 million hens.

The retailer-led shift to barn egg production is evident, and in 2024, capacity to produce barn eggs increased from 9% in 2023 to 20% in 2024.

Exports of eggs in 2024 were valued at €40.9 million.

There were almost 10 million table eggs exported to third countries, including Great Britan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

Exports in the prepared consumer food (PCF) sector in 2024 were valued at €3.57 billion, an increase of 8% on the value of 2023 figures and a 6% rise in volume exported.

The UK continues to be the main export location for Irish PCFs, consisting of €2.32 billion of the overall export total.

This figure represents 65% of the value of PCF exports and nearly 80% of overall export tonnage in the sector and a rise in value of 11% on the 2023 figure.

Exports to European partners accounted for 26% of the overall value at €929 million.

Of these, Germany continues to be the leading importer of Irish prepared consumer food with a total of €151 million, followed by the Netherlands on €143 million and France on €144 million.

Outside of the EU, the US remained the largest market accounting for 4% of exports and valued at €132 million.

This represents a 3% increase in value on 2023 but a 1% decrease in tonnage.

Exports of cereal-based products performed strongly in 2024, with a 22% growth on both volume and value on 2023 figures, rising to €150 million.

Ireland’s meat preparation products continue to be the largest single category for prepared consumer foods exports, with a 31% share of all exports in the sector.

While both value and tonnage remained stable on 2023 figures, exports continued to be valued at over €1 billion.