Finnish agrifood export makes record in 2020

The value of exported agri-food products was more than EUR 1.7 billion in 2020, said the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) in a recent press release.

The value of exports increased massively between 2015 and 2020, by nearly a quarter of a billion (+16%). The value of imports was EUR 5.3 billion, also showing an increase of roughly a quarter of a billion (+5.3%) from that in 2015.

Relatively, exports have grown much more strongly than imports.

“Measured by value, the most significant exported product groups were milk and dairy products, processed food products, and fish and fish products. Imports were dominated by processed food products, beverages, sugar confectionery, and fruit and berries. Meat imports have shown a noticeably decreasing trend for several years now,” said Luke Senior Statistician Irene Rosokivi.

Last year, the value of alcohol exports decreased by a little more than a fifth. This can largely be explained by the coronavirus pandemic. During 2020, alcohol exports to Estonia and Poland, in particular, decreased significantly, while exports to Sweden, the most important trading partner, remained unchanged.

Both the value and volume of cereal exports have nearly doubled since 2018. The increase in exports has resulted from the recovery of the cereal harvest in 2019 after a few years of lower harvest levels. In 2020, cereal exports totalled 0.74 billion kilos, or EUR 0.14 billion. The highest volumes of cereals were exported to Germany, the Netherlands, and Morocco.

“Cereal exports increased relatively the most to Morocco, Spain, and South Africa, with the exported volume doubling from the previous year’s level. However, cereal exports to Sweden and the UK nearly halved,”said Rosokivi.

Finland imported a total of 97 million kilos of fish and fish products in 2020.

“The value of imports decreased by roughly EUR 35 million. Fresh whole salmon was imported the most, a total of 46 million kilos, of which 23 million kilos were, however, further exported. The volume of frozen whole Baltic herring exported from Finland was 26 million kilos,” said Luke Senior Statistician Pentti Moilanen.