EU agri-food exports to non-EU countries last year reached a record value of €129 billion, according to a new European Commission report published this week.
The report confirms that export values in 10 out of the 12 months exceeded the value in the same month the previous year.
EU agri-food exports in December 2015 achieved a value of €11.2 billion, exceeding the value of previous years for the same month by almost €1 billion.
According to the European Commission, this represents an increase of more than 9% compared to the usual export values in December.
Highest increases in monthly values of agri-food exports were recorded for the US, China and Japan, as well as for some Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, while the most significant reductions were in exports to Hong Kong, Algeria and Russia.
The highest increases in EU monthly export values were witnessed for wheat (more than €168m compared to December 2014) as well as for vegetables (more than €76m) and for pork (more than €72m).
On the other hand, exports decreased for milk powder and hides and skins.
The trade balance for all EU agri-food products in 2015 showed a surplus in exports of about €16 billion, a little lower than the €18 billion surplus in 2014.
