Irish agri-food exports reach record €20.8 billion in 2025

Ireland's agri-food exports reached a record €20.8 billion in 2025, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon said on 8 November while presenting the Annual Review and Outlook for Agriculture, Food and the Marine 2025-2026. The total is almost €1.8 billion, or 9%, higher than a year earlier, and the sector accounted for 8% of all goods exported from Ireland.

Main product categories

Irish produce was shipped to more than 180 countries. Around 90% of Irish beef, sheep meat and dairy is exported each year. The largest categories were:

• dairy: €7.2 billion (+11%), including butter at €1.9 billion and cheese at €1.7 billion;
• beef: €3.6 billion (+17%), with fresh or chilled boneless beef making up 63% of the value;
• beverages: €2.2 billion (+2%), including Irish whiskey at €956 million;
• seafood: €668 million (+12%);
• fruit and vegetables: €259 million (+2%), of which 65% was fresh or chilled mushrooms.

Markets

The UK remained the top destination with 39% of export value, followed by the Netherlands (10%) and the United States (9%). Among other EU countries, France and Germany each took 6% and Italy 3%. EU member states accounted for €7.5 billion (36%) of exports, while other global markets, excluding the EU and UK, accounted for €5.4 billion (25%).

2026 so far

Preliminary figures to August show a marginal decline in value (-1.3%), though beverages, poultry and cereal products grew. Year-to-date exports remain 11% higher than in the same period of 2024.

The minister said growth in recent years has been driven mainly by value rather than volume: in 2025 value rose 9% while volume rose 5%. He said this fits Food Vision 2030, the sector's stakeholder-led strategy. Food security will also be considered in the strategy's forthcoming mid-term review.