UK chocolate exports to EU drop 36% over two years amid Brexit and Covid-19 pressures

Export values of chocolate from the UK to the EU have fallen significantly from 2019 to 2021, with figures down 36.9% (to £99 million), as the wider food and drink sector markets trade to the European bloc drops by a total of £2 billion in the past two years amid Brexit and covid-19 impacts, reports Neill Barston. The overall market sales figure drop for the quarter of 47% (against results for Q1 in 2020), meant that British sales to non-EU nations accounted for 55% of all exports, with sales to Ireland down by more than two thirds. Furthermore, figures for Germany, Spain and Italy also declined by more than half since the first months of last year, as the coronavirus crisis compounded already challenging trading conditions for the UK export sector. Imports from the EU also fell by 10%, which analysts have forecast will worsen due to the implementation of full border checks in 2022. As the FDF noted, all of the UK’s top 10 products exported to the EU fell significantly in value ...