The EU is a leader of global trade: in 2012, EU agriproduct exports reached a record high of 138 billion €, 7% of all EU exports (European Commission, Monitoring EU Agri-Food Trade: Development until July 2019). Agriproducts represent 10.6% of intra-EU trade with internal market value of 372 Bn € (DG Agriculture and Rural Development, Farm Economics Unit, Statistical Factsheet 2019).
Agriculture and the food related industries and services together provide almost 44 million jobs in the EU. The food production and processing chain accounts for 7.5% of employment and 3.7% of total value added in the EU (DG Agriculture and Rural Development, Agri-food trade in 2018: another successful year for agri-food trade)
The food and drink industry is the EU’s biggest manufacturing sector in terms of jobs and value added.