Made in England ResearchDataset
How much of its own food does the UK produce?
The UK produced 60% of the food it used in 2025, by value, down from 65% in 2024 and well below the 1984 peak of 78%. The official figure since 1956, food by food, and where the rest comes from.
Defra's food production to supply ratio is the official measure of how much of its own food the UK produces. For the last two decades it has stayed between 59% and 65%. Every figure here is from Defra's accredited official statistics and can be checked against the sources listed at the end.
Key figures
- 5 pointsthe fall in one year, from 65% in 2024 to 60% in 2025. It equals the largest one-year fall in the series, which starts in 1956 (the others were in 1977 and 1985).
- 58%of the food eaten in the UK in 2025 was of UK origin, by farm-gate value. 23% came from the EU.
How the figure has changed since 1956
UK food production to supply ratio, by value, 1956 to 2025.
All foodIndigenous type food (foods that can be produced in the UK)
Source: Defra, Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2025, table 14.1c. 2025 is provisional.
Download the figures, 1956 to 2025 (CSV)
Self-sufficiency rose steadily after the war and peaked in the early 1980s, at 78% for all food in 1984 and 95% for indigenous type food in the same year. It fell through the 1990s and early 2000s, reaching 59% in 2006 and 2009, and has stayed close to 60% since. Defra says the main driver of year-to-year change is the value of imports.
Food by food
UK production as a share of UK supply, by volume. Over 100% means the UK produces more than it uses and exports the rest. The black tick marks 100%.
| Food | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2025 against 100% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milk | 105% | 105% | 105% | |
| Mutton and lamb | 113% | 101% | 103% | |
| Barley | 113% | 106% | 107% | |
| Oats | 120% | 104% | 109% | |
| Carrots, turnips and swede | 96% | 95% | 97% | |
| Cabbages | 81% | 85% | 90% | |
| Eggs | 88% | 88% | 88% | |
| Beef and veal | 85% | 85% | 84% | |
| Wheat | 96% | 79% | 83% | |
| Cereals (all) | 93% | 79% | 81% | |
| Poultry meat | 82% | 82% | 80% | |
| Potatoes | 67% | 67% | 71% | |
| Pig meat | 65% | 65% | 67% | |
| Sugar beet | 54% | 65% | 61% | |
| Fresh vegetables (all) | 54% | 54% | 56% | |
| Strawberries | 66% | 61% | 56% | |
| Cauliflowers and broccoli | 51% | 56% | 55% | |
| Oilseed rape | 63% | 53% | 49% | |
| Lettuce | 47% | 48% | 48% | |
| Apples | 45% | 43% | 47% | |
| Mushrooms | 49% | 46% | 46% | |
| Raspberries | 39% | 34% | 38% | |
| Pears | 13% | 17% | 19% | |
| Tomatoes | 16% | 16% | 17% | |
| Fresh fruit (all) | 16% | 15% | 14% | |
| Plums | 13% | 12% | 9% |
The UK produces more milk, lamb, barley and oats than it uses. It is close to self-sufficient in carrots, cabbages, eggs and beef. It relies on imports for most of its fresh fruit, tomatoes, lettuce and mushrooms, and for about a third of its pork. Fruit figures are low partly because many fruits eaten here, such as bananas and citrus, cannot be grown commercially in the UK, and partly because of the short UK season.
Defra does not publish a production to supply ratio for fish and seafood. Its UK Food Security Report 2024 says the UK imports 90% of the seafood it consumes.
Where the rest comes from
Origins of food consumed in the UK, 2025, by farm-gate value of raw food.
- UK58.4%
- EU22.8%
- Africa5.0%
- Asia3.9%
- South America3.8%
- Rest of Europe3.1%
- North America2.3%
- Australasia0.7%
Source: Defra, Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2025, figure 14.5. UK origin is UK production minus UK exports. Shares may not add to exactly 100% because of rounding.
This is a different measure from the ratio above: it looks at what is eaten in the UK rather than at production against supply, so the UK share (58%) is lower than the headline 60%. In 1990, 66% of food eaten in the UK was of UK origin and 18% came from the EU. For a food-by-food view of which countries the UK imports from, see Who Feeds Britain?
Self-Sufficiency Day
The National Farmers' Union marks a Self-Sufficiency Day each August: the date the UK would run out of food if it ate only food produced in the UK from 1 January. In 2024 the NFU put it at 14 August, based on Defra's figure of 62% for 2023.
The calculation is a share of the year: 62% of 365 days is about 226 days, which lands in mid-August. Using the same method, Defra's 2025 figure of 60% would put the date around 7 August, a week earlier. This is our arithmetic, not an NFU announcement, and it is a way of picturing the figure rather than a forecast: in practice the UK eats home-produced and imported food throughout the year.
What the figures do and do not show
What the measure is
The headline figure is Defra's food production to supply ratio. It is the farm-gate value of raw food produced in the UK divided by the value of raw food for human consumption in the UK, meaning production plus imports minus exports. It is measured by value, so changes in prices, not just quantities, move it. The food-by-food figures are measured by volume. Indigenous type food means food that can be commercially produced in the UK.
It is not a measure of food security
Defra says the ratio is not a definitive measure of food security, because it leaves out many factors, and that a high ratio does not protect a country against every disruption to supply. UK farming itself depends on imported fuel, fertiliser and animal feed. A low figure for fruit does not by itself mean low food security.
UK, not England
These are UK figures. Defra does not publish a production to supply ratio for England alone, so an England-only figure is not established from public sources.
Revisions
Defra marks 2025 figures as provisional, and earlier years can be revised when it publishes a new edition. The figures here are from the edition first published on 9 July 2026 and updated on 3 September 2026.
Sources: Defra, Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2025, chapter 14: the food chain, tables 14.1c and 14.2 and figure 14.5, from the published data tables; Defra, UK Food Security Report 2024, theme 2 (seafood); Agriland, 14 August 2024, reporting the NFU's 2024 Self-Sufficiency Day.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Related research
Who Feeds Britain? shows where 47 everyday foods are imported from. In our Censuswide survey, 68% of adults in England said growing more of our own food matters more now than in previous decades.
Next update
Defra publishes Agriculture in the United Kingdom each July. We will update this page when the 2026 edition is published.
Suggested citation
Made in England Research, How much of its own food does the UK produce?, data to 2025, analysis of Defra, Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2025. https://madeinengland.com/pages/uk-food-self-sufficiency