One fifth (19%) of all honey imported into the EU in 2023 was delivered to Belgium, making the country the second biggest importer of honey in the bloc.
Coinciding with World Bee Day (20 May), the EU statistical office Eurostat has published figures showing that Belgians have a hearty appetite for the sweet, sticky substance made by honey bees.
In 2023, Germany was the largest EU importer of honey, importing 41,000 tonnes of honey from countries outside of the EU, or 25% of all EU imports. Belgium was the second largest importer, receiving 31,400 tonnes (19% of all imports), ahead of Poland (23,300 tonnes, 14%), Spain (15,700 tonnes, 10%) and France (7,700 tonnes, 5%).
However when compared per capita, this equates to around 2,672 tonnes of honey per million people imported into Belgium last year, far surpassing some 486 tonnes per million people imported into Germany.
In total last year, EU countries imported 163,700 tonnes of natural honey from extra-EU countries, worth €359.3 million. At the same time, some 24,900 tonnes were exported by the EU members outside the EU, valued at €146.0 million.
Compared with 2013, honey imports from outside the EU increased by 20%, and exports to extra-EU countries rose by 14%.
Most of the honey imported from outside the EU last year came from China (37%) and Ukraine (28%), followed by Argentina (12%), Mexico (7%) and Cuba (3%).
In terms of honey produced by Member States and exported to other countries outside the EU, the UK was the EU's primary export partner last year, receiving 17% of all honey exports. The UK was closely followed by Saudi Arabia (14%), Switzerland (13%), the US (13%) and Japan (10%).
Spain was the EU's biggest exporter of honey last year, accounting for 29% of all exports to countries outside of the EU. Germany was also a major exporter of honey in 2023 (22%), ahead of Romania (7%), Hungary (6%) and Greece (6%).
