How self-sufficient is the UK, fruit and vegetable-wise?

Published 2021년 10월 4일

Tridge summary

The UK's reliance on vegetable and fruit imports is significant, with the country producing only half of its own vegetables and 16% of its fresh fruit. The production of key vegetables like carrots, onions, and cabbage remains stable, while greenhouse vegetable production is modest. The self-sufficiency rates for these vegetables vary widely. Fruit production in the UK is much lower, with strawberries being the most self-sufficient. The UK ranks as the third-largest vegetable and sixth-largest fruit importer in the world, importing a variety of vegetables and bananas as the top fruit product. The impact of Brexit on import figures is currently under observation, with early reports showing a potential decrease in imports from the EU, particularly from the Netherlands and Belgium.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

The United Kingdom relies heavily on vegetable, and especially fruit, imports. They grow just over half their own vegetables. There were fewer imports in 2020, but production remained the same. The UK's vegetable self-sufficiency rate, therefore, increased. It rose by about three percent to 56%. That ended a long-term downward trend regarding vegetable self-sufficiency. When it comes to fresh fruit, 16% of domestic consumption comes from products grown on British soil. That's the same as in previous years. This is based on figures from the UK's Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. Quite lopsided vegetable production: mostly large, full-soil productsIn the United Kingdom, total vegetable production has remained fairly stable in recent years, at 2,5 to 2,6 million tons. It used to be higher. British vegetable farming consists mainly of large open-field vegetables. Carrots are, by far, the most important product; in 2020, farmers cultivated 700,000 tons. Onions and ...

Source: Hortidaily