According to Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, imports of beef into Ireland for the first quarter of 2019 are relatively small, with 7,310 tonnes or €30.4m seen during this period. These figures are a reduction on the 11,714 tonnes, or €33.7m, registered during the same period in 2018. This equates to a 33% decline in volume.
In Q1 2019, the main country that we imported beef from was Great Britain, with 5,541 tonnes. This means that Great Britain makes up 75% off all our imported beef for the period in question, followed by Northern Ireland with 992 tonnes, or 13.5%, of the total.
Overall, EU member states made up 99% of all our beef imports, with 7,235 tonnes or €30m imported in the first quarter of 2019. Imports from third countries during this period were very small with 2 tonnes being imported from Brazil, and 1 tonne from Switzerland.