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Food statistics round-up published

   

NEWS RELEASE

Ref: 343/08
Date: 30 October 2008

An annual compendium of food statistics, ranging from food prices to food supply, and for the first time including data on food safety and consumer demand, were published today.

Wider ranging than its predecessors, this year’s Food Statistics Pocketbook also contains restructured chapters on public health alongside statistics about the economic contribution of the UK food chain and the environmental impacts of UK food production and consumption.

The collection of statistics gives the most complete picture to date of all stages of the food chain, from production to consumption. Key findings include:

  • The UK agri-food sector contributed £79.4 billion or 8.6 per cent to national market sector gross value added in 2006, a rise from 8.1 per cent in 2005.  It employed 3.2 million people in quarter four of 2007, unchanged from the same period in 2006.
  • In 2006, 26 countries together accounted for 90 per cent of UK food supply. Around half was supplied domestically from within the UK, which was unchanged from 2005.
  • A third of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK food chain are attributed to UK farming and fishing.
  • The proportion of men and women who consumed the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables per day increased from 22 per cent in 2001 to 28 per cent in 2006 for men, and from 25 per cent to 32% for women.

Farming Minister Jane Kennedy said:

“The statistics we’re publishing today have been gathered together to provide a definitive picture of how food affects our lives, and will make an important contribution to the government’s forthcoming food policy vision.”

Notes to editors

  1.  “Food Statistics Pocketbook 2008” can be downloaded at https://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/publications/pocketstats/foodpocketstats/default.asp

  2. The results of the June 2008 Survey of Agriculture in the United Kingdom are due to be published later in  2008:

  3.  “Food Matters: Towards a food strategy for the 21st Century” was published by the Cabinet Office on 7 July 2007. To view the report go to www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/work_areas/food_policy.aspx

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Page published: 30 October 2008