Northern Ireland food and drink sector worth £5bn a year

Dairy products are among Northern Ireland's biggest earners

Northern Ireland's food and drink industry is worth more than £5bn a year, according to the latest statistics.

Sales were worth £5.37bn in 2019 - an increase of 4% on the previous year.

The sector provided jobs for almost 25,000 people.

Great Britain remains the biggest market and accounts for 48% of sales, while the Republic of Ireland is the biggest export market, taking almost 16% of products sold in 2019.

Almost a quarter of what is produced in Northern Ireland is consumed by the home market with domestic sales worth £1.2bn.

Between 2018-2019 the value of sales to Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland and non-EU countries was up.

Sales fell within Northern Ireland and to other EU countries.

The biggest earners were beef, sheep and dairy products, which between them accounted for almost half total sales.

Poultry was another significant sector.

There are 314 food and drink companies in the sector ranging from the small to the very large.

The bulk of them had a 2019 turnover of between £250k and £10m.

But almost 50 companies had a turnover between £10m and £50m. And 22 of them had turnovers of more than £50m.

The figures are in a government produced annual report on the size and performance of the food and drink sector.