FULL YEAR figures for poultrymeat trade in the European Union have revealed a 2.4% increase in imports in 2019.

The bloc, including the UK, imported 832,838t of chicken in 2019, compared with 813,372 the year before.

Of the two largest exporters to Europe, Brazil grew sales by 3.8% in 2019 to 313,694t while poultrymeat imports from Thailand remained largely flat, at 308,817t.

Ukraine recorded a 23% increase in total tonnage sold into Europe, up to 134,262t in 2019.

Exports

The figures show that exports from Europe to South Africa have recovered, up 55% in 2019 when compared with the year before.

Strong sales growth was recorded for the Phillippines (up 35.5%) and Ghana (up 13.9%).

Europe exported 1.9m tonnes of chicken last year in total, up 7.6% on the year before.