- Having experienced economic and transport restrictions during the first wave of the pandemic, our agri-food sector, production plants and logistics have been well prepared for the second wave. Minister Grzegorz Puda informed today that the latest data on the first three quarters of this year show an increase in the Polish food exports by 6.7% compared to the corresponding period of last year. The results confirm that Polish food is of best quality and competitive on the global market, as emphasized by the Minister.

Trade with the Member States of the European Union

The exports to the Member States of the European Union (including the UK) increased by 4.4% to reach EUR 20,085 million this year. The share of the EU Member States in the structure of the agri-food exports shrank from 81.9% to 80.1%, if compared with three quarters of 2019.

The greatest volume of agri-food products were sold to Germany during the period from January until September 2020, which is part of a multi-year trend. The value of exports amounted to EUR 6,231 million and marked an increase by 10.3% against the same period of 2019 (during the first nine months of 2019 - EUR 5,648 million). The exports to Germany accounted for nearly 25% of the entire agri-food exports during the first three quarters of 2020.

Increased importance of exports to non-EU countries

It should be pointed out that the Polish agri-food exports to non-EU countries are increasing. During the period from January to September 2020, the export value amounted to EUR 4,985 million, which marked an increase by approx. 17%, if compared with the corresponding period of the preceding year.

- During the analysed period, Poland increased its food exports to non-EU countries by 17%, which is not without significance in view of the expected restrictions in case of a no-deal Brexit. Still, our main recipients are the EU Member States which purchased Polish agri-food products with a value of EUR 20.1 billion, as stated by the Head of the Ministry of Agriculture.

On the other hand, the highest growth rate was recorded in export sales to African countries, including the Republic of South Africa and Morocco (an over 2-fold increase) and Algeria (an increase by 86%). Furthermore, a significant increase was recorded in the value of exports to Ghana and Senegal. Tanzania also became an important recipient of Polish agri-food products this year.

What is more, trade with the countries of the Middle East intensified, with the largest recipient being Saudi Arabia (an over twofold increase). Finally, Poland increased its exports to Kuwait (nearly twofold) and Turkey (by 22%).

China remains the largest customer of Polish agri-food products on the Asian continent; however, the highest increase in the export value was recorded in the sales to Singapore (over twofold) and Vietnam (by 18%).

Positive balance persists

- Agri-food trade has maintained a positive balance all the time, as Minister Grzegorz Puda pointed out.

If compared with the corresponding period of last year, the positive trade balance in agri-food products increased by approx. 11% to reach EUR 8,578 million.