Irish share of UK beef imports fell in 2025

Irish beef accounted for 162,017t of UK fresh and frozen beef imports in 2025, down from 185,272t the previous year according to AHDB data. The UK imported slightly more beef overall last year at 241,726t, just over 1,000t more than the previous year.

As Figure 1 shows, other countries increased their share of the market and as a result the Irish share of UK beef imports fell from 77% in 2024 to 67% last year.

The biggest switch occurred in the final months of 2025. As Figure 2 shows, in the month of December overall UK beef imports increased significantly compared with December 2024, rising from 19,956t to 22,407t.

However, even though the demand for imported beef in the UK increased, Ireland supplied less of it, down from 15,670t the previous December to 13,434t in December 2025.

With the additional UK beef imports being sourced elsewhere, it meant that the Irish share dipped to just below 60% of the overall UK beef import market in December.

Growing market share

Ireland lost market share for two main reasons. Firstly, Ireland had less beef available to export in 2025, particularly in the later part of the year. Bord Bia export data shows that overall Irish beef exports last year were 471,271t, down from 498,392t the previous year and the lowest amount of Irish beef exported since 2018. This was due to a fall in the cattle kill of over 200,000 head, which occurred mainly in the second half of the year.

Less Irish supply in the latter part of 2025 also coincided with reduced production in the UK and indeed across much of Europe and the United States. As a result, there was strong demand across the EU for whatever Irish beef was available for export, not just the UK.

With Ireland having less beef to export overall and multiple options, an opportunity was created for alternative suppliers to the UK, and New Zealand, Australia and Brazil all grew their market share substantially – albeit from a low base.

Brazil was the world’s largest beef exporter in 2025 and has the lowest cattle price of all the major beef exporting countries. Its increase in beef exports to the UK was achieved without the benefit of a tariff-free quota – though it does have a Hilton quota, which gives it access with a 20% tariff.

Brexit impact

Australia and New Zealand have a particular competitive advantage for growing their share of the UK market, which can be traced back to Brexit. When the UK left the European Union, it was enabled to make its own trade deals with any trading partner it chose outside the EU.

Two of the first post-Brexit deals the UK agreed were with Australia and New Zealand, both of which came into effect at the beginning of June 2023. These deals include a huge tariff-free quota for beef and sheepmeat – which puts both countries on the same trading terms with the UK as Ireland and other EU countries.

Since then, beef and sheepmeat exports from Australia and New Zealand have been steadily increasing – though this was from a tiny base. They grew throughout 2025, particularly in the latter part of the year, and by December New Zealand had replaced Poland as the UK’s largest supplier of beef imports after Ireland. Australia was the fourth-largest supplier in that month, with Poland dropping to fifth on the list.

New Zealand lamb opened beef door

While the trade deals opened the door for Australian and New Zealand beef (and sheepmeat) exports to the UK, both countries have other advantages, which help them build market share.

New Zealand has been a huge supplier of UK sheepmeat imports for over a century. In fact, when the UK joined the EEC back in 1973, one of the terms of joining was the inclusion of an 228,000t tariff-free sheepmeat quota spread across all member states.

Thus New Zealand had a huge UK distribution network already in place for sheepmeat and extending it to include beef was a relatively small step, given the similar supply chain characteristics of the two.

This probably explains why New Zealand has crept ahead of Australia in the volume of beef supplied in UK imports last year, despite New Zealand having overall less beef to export. This advantage is strengthened further through the partnership between Alliance and Dawn Meats, which came into effect in the latter part of the year.

Supply is Australia’s ace

Unlike New Zealand, Australia didn’t have a significant sheepmeat quota for the UK market before the post-Brexit trade deal. However, it had the advantage of an abundant beef supply in 2025, which enabled it to increase volumes to its traditional export markets and grow new ones as well, with the UK being the most prominent “new market”. This week production data released by Meat and Livestock Australia shows that 2.87m tonnes of beef were produced in 2025, a 12% increase on 2024 and the biggest annual beef production on record, with carcase weights averaging 309kg.

Cattle numbers in 2025 were also 12% higher than the previous year, at 9.28m, putting 2025 ahead of the previous modern record set in 2014 and the highest recorded since 1978. Incidentally, Australian lamb production fell 7% in 2025 to 24.6m, but it was still the third highest on record, after 2023 and 2024.

With record beef production in 2025, Australia also set a new record for beef export volumes, at 1.54m tonnes. The US, China, the rest of Asia and the Middle East were the main export markets, but in context of increasing output, finding a few thousand more tonnes for export to the UK wasn’t difficult.

Comment: all change or temporary disruption?

Last year Ireland had less beef at a time when Australia and Brazil had record production. Also, by the end of the year, Alliance, one of New Zealand’s major exporters, was in partnership with Dawn Meats – who are well established in the UK market.

None of these circumstances will change significantly in 2026. Irish beef production will be similar or even lower but it will remain high in both Brazil and Australia. They have also been given quota allocations for 2026 by China, which are much lower than the volumes they supplied in 2025. This will also be the first full year of the Dawn Meats-Alliance partnership, which will assist the building of New Zealand market share in the UK.

Geographical location plus the commitment by supermarkets and burger chains to use only British and Irish beef will remain a competitive advantage for Irish beef in the UK market and keep us as a preferred supplier. However, we can expect that outside of this, the UK market for beef imports will be a more crowded space for the coming year and beyond.