The European Commission has published its latest report on monitoring EU agri-food trade which shows that in July 2023, both imports and exports slowed down compared with June 2023.  

This did not however impact the EU’s trade balance in agri-food products which stayed positive at €6.2 billion. The cumulative trade balance from January to July 2023 reached € 38.6 billion, which is even higher (by € 7.3 billion) compared with the same period last year. 

While the monthly value of EU agri-food exports in July were below their level in July last year, EU exports are still strong. Cumulative EU agri-food exports increased by 5% in the first seven months of the year. This was mainly due to growth in the exports of cereal preparations, and fruit and nut preparations. Exported volumes of vegetable oils, oilseeds and protein crops, and cereals also increased compared to 2022. The top three destinations for EU agri-food exports between January and July of this year were the United Kingdom, the United States and China. 

EU agri-food imports continued to decrease further in July, falling to € 11.8 billion, 11% less than in June 2023 and 17% less than in July 2022. This is explained by a decrease of import prices since the beginning of 2023, combined with the reduction of import volumes in July. The total value of imports from January to July 2023 was at € 94.9 billion, similar to 2022. 

Cereal imports increased by 29% while imports of oilseeds and protein crops decreased by 11% and those of vegetable oils decreased by 27%. This has resulted in a reduction of the trade deficit for vegetable oils, as well as for oilseeds and protein crops. 

Imports from Argentina decreased by € 1 billion (27%), in large part due to a reduction of soya meals imports, while imports from Brazil also decreased by € 892 million (-8%), with a large decrease in soya beans and coffee. 

The top three origin countries for EU agri-food imports between January and July 2023 were Brazil and the United Kingdom, followed by Ukraine. 

You can download the report in full here