Food Research Ireland - Department of Agriculture

The agri-food and fisheries sector is critically important to the Irish
economy. It is Ireland’s largest indigenous industry with gross annual
output approaching €22billion, it accounts for 60% of exports by
indigenous firms and employs 135,000 people. There are approximately
1,100 food companies ranging from micro-enterprises to High-Potential
Start-Ups (HPSUs) and from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and
large indigenous companies, to multinational Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI) companies with over 90% of these being SMEs with a distinct
regional distribution relative to other manufacturing industries 2 .
The Irish food and drink industry exports 85% of agriculture output in
processed form worth over €8 billion to over 170 markets worldwide.
Dairy is the largest exporting food sector (€2.3bn), followed by prepared
consumer foods (€1.4bn), beverages (€1.2bn), beef (€1.2bn) and other
relatively smaller, but significant sectors including seafood (€350m), pork,
sheepmeat, poultry, and horticulture (c. €1.35bn) (Figures Bord Bia, EI,
BIM).
The food industry is Europe’s largest manufacturing sector and is central
to its economic development. For example, it transforms over 70% of the
EU’s agricultural and fisheries raw materials, generates €965 billion
turnover per annum, employs 4.4million people, supports some 310,000
companies, and provides 480 million consumers daily with a wide variety
of products and services across diverse countries and markets. The food
supply chain connects three important sectors of the European economy
– primary production, the food processing industry and the distribution
sectors – that together account for more than 5% of European valueadded
and 7% of employment.
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2 Food Harvest 2020 – A Vision for the Irish agri-food and fisheries sector. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food, Dublin 2010
Importance of Agri-Food and
Fisheries at a glance
Contributes gross annual output
approaching €22 billion
Directly employs over 135,000
people
Provides the outlet for the
produce from Ireland’s 128,000
family farms
Represents 60% of manufacturing
exports by indigenous firms
Domestically sources 71% of its
raw materials
Source: DAFM
Food Research Ireland
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