Lithuania’s food exports to UAE hit $2bn in Q1 2023

Exports of food and agricultural products to the UAE from Lithuania rose 17.2 percent year on year to €1.83 billion ($1.97 billion) in the first quarter of 2023.

The main exports were concentrated milk and cream, which accounted for 38.9 percent of the value of all agri-food products, said Sarune Sableviciene, agricultural and commercial attaché at the embassy of Lithuania to the UAE.

She noted that imports reached €1.50 billion in the first quarter of 2023, rising 22.3 percent year-on-year.

Other foodstuffs accounted for 18.1 percent of the total value of all agri-food products exported to the UAE. Cheese and curd exports reached 10.1 percent, up 86.7 percent year-on-year.

Dates, figs, pineapples, avocados, guavas and mangoes were the main imports from the UAE from January to March 2023, accounting for 97.9 percent of the total value of agri-food imports from the country.

In 2022, the total export of agricultural and food products from Lithuania to the UAE reached €15.2 million, rising 79.6 percent year-on-year. The UAE ranked 50th out of 152 export partners.

From 2018 to 2022, 79 percent of exported agricultural and food products to the UAE were of Lithuanian origin.