Data published by the UK levy board the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) shows that Ireland supplied over 10,000 tonnes (t) less beef in the first half of 2026 than in 2025.
Irish beef accounted for 78,066t of the 121,855t total UK beef imports in the first half of the year, which is a still strong 64% share of the market, but this is still 9% less than the 73% share it had in the same period in 2025.
Overall, UK beef imports were 1,172t higher year on year.
The big winners in growing their share of UK beef imports were Australia and New Zealand, two major beef and sheepmeat exporting countries that secured favourable tariff-free quotas in post-Brexit trade deals.
In the first half of the year, UK beef imports from New Zealand jumped to 13,765t, more than 10,000t higher than was imported in the same period the previous year.
The other big winner in growing market share was Australia, which supplied 10,395t of beef in the first half of 2026 compared with just 4,002t in the same period last year.
Brazil also increased its share of UK beef imports, up from 6,687t in the first half of 2025 to 6,687t in the first half of this year.
It isn’t just Ireland that has lost a share of the UK market for imported beef. In the first half of 2025, Poland was the second-largest supplier after Ireland on 10,129t.
However, in the same period this year, Poland has fallen from second to fifth place, supplying just 5,953t, less than New Zealand, Australia or Brazil, the latter of which doesn’t have a trade deal in place with the UK.
It was in the second half of last year that Ireland and other EU countries lost significant share of the UK beef import market. A contributing factor was the falling cattle supply and reduced overall beef export volumes from Ireland and both New Zealand and Australia in particular were well placed to take advantage of the opportunity.
It should also be noted that while there has been chance, in absolute terms Ireland remains the UK’s largest supplier of imported beef by a distance and over the past year the share has remained at close to two-thirds of total UK beef imports.
While Australia, New Zealand and Brazil all enjoy a considerable price advantage over Irish beef, our close geographic location to the UK plus the UK retail sector commitment to use only British and Irish beef mean a considerable competitive advantage is retained.
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