EU agricultural exports write record figures for 2016

Europe's agricultural exports recorded record figures for 2016. Compared to last year, the underlying value increased by 1,7 billion euros, especially exports to China and the United States contribute to this growth.

In total, the export of European agri and food products amounted to 130,7 billion euros. The biggest plus came from the US, because exports there rose by 1,26 billion euros. Exports to China also wrote green figures because of an increase of more than a billion euros. Imports, on the other hand, fell by 1,5 percent last year to 112 billion euros. This means that the agricultural trade surplus has increased from 15,3 billion euros in 2015 to 18,8 billion euros in 2016.

According to Phil Hogan, European Commissioner for Agriculture, European farmers definitely benefit from free trade agreements. This writes the Belgian felt. Research by Copenhagen Economics, on which Hogan bases his opinion, shows that free trade agreements have a positive effect on the export of European agricultural products. Not only trade benefits, it also creates jobs in Europe.

The study refutes these results on the basis of three existing trade agreements between the EU and Mexico, Switzerland and South Korea. “Those three agreements alone have increased EU agricultural and food exports by more than €1 billion,” Hogan said. 

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