The Food and Drink Federation said UK food and drink exports reached a record £25.6 billion in 2025, while imports climbed to a new high of £66.9 billion, underscoring both the scale of the sector and the continuing imbalance between value growth and physical trade recovery.
The more difficult figure sits in the volume data. Food and drink export volumes rose 6% year on year to 8.9 billion kilograms, but they remained 27% below 2019 levels. For exports to the EU, the gap was wider still, with volumes down 31% on the same pre-Brexit benchmark. That leaves the industry in an awkward position: values are still rising, yet the underlying movement of goods has not returned to where it was before the additional friction of post-Brexit trading arrangements.
The federation argues that the forthcoming SPS agreement with the EU could ease some of that pressure, especially for products currently exposed to checks, certification requirements, and administrative duplication. But the agreement is not close enough to remove the operational burden yet. Businesses are being told to prepare for full alignment by mid-2027, and the transition will require changes across supplier arrangements, compliance systems, packaging, contracts, and manufacturing specifications. For product groups expected to see only limited benefit from SPS simplification, including categories such as chocolate, biscuits, and breakfast cereals, the structural challenge remains largely intact.
The international backdrop has also worsened. FDF said UK exports to the US fell 8.9% in the second half of 2025 after tariff changes, reversing strong first-half growth, while broader tariff disruption has begun to redirect global trade flows into other markets. Karen Betts, FDF chief executive, said “real export growth continues to be challenging”, which is hard to dispute given the combined effect of cost pressure, regulatory change, and geopolitical instability.
That matters because food and drink manufacturing remains the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, with more than 12,500 businesses and a major footprint in jobs, regional output, and domestic supply resilience. The headline export record is real enough, but the task now is less about celebrating value growth than rebuilding tradable volume, restoring competitiveness in Europe, and making sure the next regulatory reset does not catch manufacturers underprepared.
