Made in England ResearchDataset
Who Feeds Britain?
Where the UK's imported food is recorded as coming from, food by food, and how much we rely on a single country. 47 everyday foods, built from HMRC trade figures and updated every month.
For each of 47 everyday foods, this dataset shows how much the UK imports, which countries it comes from, and how much we rely on one or two of them. It is built from HMRC's monthly trade figures and updated each month, so the same page can be used for the next shortage, failed harvest or trade dispute.
Three things to know. These are UK figures, not England-only, because HMRC records imports for the whole UK. For food arriving from the EU, HMRC often records the country it was shipped from rather than where it was grown, so the Netherlands can look bigger than it is. Everything is measured by weight, because prices change from year to year. Changes are measured against three years earlier, because HMRC changed how it records imports from the EU in January 2022.
Unless stated, figures cover the 12 months to August 2026. How these figures are made
All 47 foods
Choose a food to see its suppliers, how they have changed, and the months when we rely most on one country.
Main source is the country HMRC records the most imports from, by weight. For food from the EU this is often the country it was shipped from rather than where it was grown. Share is that country's share of recorded imports, and Top three is the share of the three biggest together. UK production vs supply is UK production as a percentage of what the UK uses (production plus imports minus exports), where Defra publishes a figure; it can be over 100% when the UK exports more than it imports. Could be produced here means grown, reared or caught commercially in the UK.
* May include food grown elsewhere and shipped through Dutch ports. Last year is the 12 months to August 2025; three years ago is the 12 months to August 2023. n/a means Defra does not publish a production figure that matches our product codes.
Imports by country, 12 months to August each year
Thousand tonnes. The five main sources today, and everyone else.
Main sources now and three years ago
Bar: share of recorded imports now. Marker: share three years earlier.
Main source each month, September 2025 to August 2026
Which countries we rely on most
How many of the 47 foods each country is the main recorded source of. Choose a country to see its foods in the table.
Download the data
The full table for all 47 foods, and the yearly figures by country behind the charts. HMRC's monthly detail is available from its own trade data service.
How these figures are made
Source
The figures come from HMRC's Overseas Trade Statistics, taken from its open data service on 15 October 2026. These record every import into the UK by product code, country and month, with weight and value. The 12-month figures here run from September to August, so the latest year is September 2025 to August 2026.
Foods and product codes
Each food is matched to its HMRC product codes, which are listed under each food, so the figures can be checked against HMRC's own. Fruit and vegetables are fresh produce only: tomatoes in a sauce or a pizza are not counted under tomatoes. The 47 foods were chosen as everyday foods across fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy, fish and store-cupboard staples that each have clear HMRC product codes, so counts such as 15 of 47 describe this list only. The list of foods and codes is fixed for a year at a time so the figures stay comparable. Foods are grouped as could be produced here (grown, reared or caught commercially in the UK) or mostly imported by nature.
What each measure means
Every figure is a plain share that can be checked, not a combined score. The main source is the single country HMRC records the most imports from, by weight, over the 12 months. Top three is the combined share of the three biggest. The changes compare the latest 12 months with the 12 months to August 2025 and with the 12 months to August 2023. We do not compare with earlier years: in January 2022 HMRC changed how it collects figures for imports from the EU into Great Britain, from Intrastat returns to customs declarations, which created a break in the series. Weight is used because prices move from year to year; value is shown alongside in current prices, not adjusted for inflation.
UK production vs supply
This is Defra's production to supply ratio: UK production divided by total supply, meaning production plus imports minus exports. It is not the share of what is eaten that was produced in the UK. For fruit and vegetables it uses Defra's horticulture production figures for 2025 with HMRC's trade figures for the same year. For meat and eggs it uses the production to supply ratios in Defra's UK Food Security Report 2024, which refer to 2023, and Defra's figure covers all poultry meat, so it is labelled as such against chicken. Lamb is above 100% because the UK exports a large share of what it produces. Where Defra does not publish a production figure that matches our product codes, the column shows n/a.
What to bear in mind
UK, not England. HMRC trade figures cover the whole UK. England-only import figures are not published.
Shipped from, not grown in. For goods arriving from the EU, HMRC's figures often show the country they were sent from rather than where they were grown. Food grown elsewhere and moved through Rotterdam or other trading hubs can therefore appear as Dutch. We have not been able to remove this effect, so main source figures for the Netherlands and other hubs should be read with care. They are marked with an asterisk.
Imports are not consumption. Some imports are processed or sent on to other countries.
Recent months can change. HMRC revises trade figures, and figures for the current year can change, the most recent months especially. It also withholds a small number of figures to protect individual traders. Earlier figures on this page can change when we update.
Sources: HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics, uktradeinfo API, data to August 2026; Defra, Horticulture statistics 2025; Defra, UK Food Security Report 2024, theme 2.
Next update
This page is updated each month after HMRC publishes new trade figures. Defra production figures are refreshed once a year. Corrections are welcome: write to marcus@madeinengland.com.
Change log
15 October 2026. Changes now compared with three years earlier rather than five, because of HMRC's January 2022 change to how EU imports are recorded; this removed several larger five-year changes shown in the first edition. Columns renamed to make clear these are recorded countries and production to supply ratios.
15 October 2026. Added value, change on the previous year, the over-half filter, the country view and plainer explanations.
15 October 2026. First edition, with data to August 2026.
Suggested citation
Made in England Research, Who Feeds Britain?, data to August 2026, analysis of HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics. https://madeinengland.com/pages/who-feeds-britain