EU: Large increase in pork exports with Spain leading and China as the main destination

Last year, the European Union exported a total of 4,735,210 tonnes of pork and pork products, representing an increase of more than 20% over the previous year, when exports reached 3,938,560 tonnes. The main reason for this was the significant increase in exports to China, which rose from 1,358,480 tonnes in 2018 to 2,419,490 tonnes in 2019.

In 2019, Spain was the leading exporter of pork and pork products, with a total of 1,183,750 t (869,540 t in 2018) and doubled its exports to China (668,780 t vs. 315,140 t), followed by Germany with a total of 1,057,070 t exported (891,760 t in 2018).

In terms of specific products, frozen meat was the main product exported, with 2,747,880 tonnes, followed by offal (1,362,880 t).

China was the main destination, receiving over half of the exports (2,419,490 t), followed by Japan (456,740 t), South Korea (266,990 t), the Philippines (228,790) and Hong Kong (215,410).

February 25, 2020/ 333 Staff with information from Eurostat