Brexit has caused salmon exports from Scotland to the European Union to shrink by £100 million a year, dealing a crushing blow to a once thriving industry.
According to reports in the Financial Times, the volume of Scottish salmon exports to the EU last year dropped 17 per cent to 44,000 tonnes from 53,000 tonnes in 2019.
Strong global demand meant that the financial bleed was contained at 3 per cent, but Salmon Scotland said sales of the fish, the UK’s biggest food export, would have ballooned to £430 million last year if volumes had been sustained at 2019 levels.
That equates to about £75 million-£100 million less than would have been expected on growth rates recorded before leaving the EU, the trade body said.
Talking to the FT, the company’s chief executive, Tavish Scott, said: “Brexit red tape continues to hold back the potential of Scottish exports, despite the hard work and investment put in by farmers to address the issues.
“We need the next UK government — whatever formation it is — to ease the burden on exporters.”
The economic benefit to Scotland’s maritime economy from salmon production is second only to oil and gas. International sales of the fish last year rose 0.5 per cent to £581 million, with sales to Asia jumping 22 per cent and to the US by 7 per cent.
While France remains Scotland’s largest overseas market for salmon, Salmon Scotland said that reducing trade friction with the EU could boost access to other member states, such as the Netherlands and Spain, where the fish has become increasingly popular.
Research out from the Centre for European Reform (CER) in February suggests that Brexit is leaving a hole of almost £100 billion in annual UK exports, making Britain’s economy worse off than if it had remained in the EU.
Businesses that make an array of products including sporting goods, children’s toys, jewellery and medical equipment have struggled the most with border costs imposed by the UK’s decision to leave the EU, leading to 30 per cent less trade between 2020 and 2023 than if Britain had stayed in the trading bloc.
Since leaving the single market, Britain’s export growth has been sluggish behind other advanced economies, leading to missed growth in goods and services exports of around £23 billion quarterly, the analysis reveals.
John Springford, an associate fellow at the CER, said his analysis “shows that Brexit is leading to permanent depression to trade between the UK and the EU”.
“If Brexit hadn’t happened, and we can visit the universe where Remain won the referendum, then trade and [the economy] would be significantly higher,” he said.
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