28 mrt 2024 om 00:03
The Netherlands and Belgium are both major exporters of beer, chocolate and frozen potato products such as fries. Furthermore, our country is also a major buyer of typical Belgian foodstuffs.
The Netherlands is the largest beer exporter in the European Union (2 billion euros in 2023), followed by Belgium (1.7 billion euros), according to figures from statistics agency CBS on Thursday.
Our southern neighbors export the most frozen potato products, mainly fries. This involves an amount of 3.4 billion euros. The Netherlands is second with 1.6 billion euros.
The largest chocolate exporter in the EU is Germany with 5.8 billion euros, followed by Belgium with 3.7 billion euros in exports. The Netherlands follows in fourth place with 2.5 billion euros.
Most of the Dutch beer goes to the United States, while Belgian beer is primarily exported to France and the Netherlands. Belgian fries are common in the United Kingdom and France. Dutch fries are the most popular in the United Kingdom. Belgian chocolate is a favorite in the Netherlands and Dutch chocolate in Germany.
The Netherlands is a bigger beer exporter than Belgium
Since the first comparisons in 1988, the Netherlands has been a larger beer exporter than Belgium. The lead over our southern neighbors is no longer as great as it once was.
In recent years, there has been turnover growth in Dutch exports to France, South Africa and Paraguay. Belgium overtook our country as a chocolate exporter in 1991 and has exported more than the Netherlands every year since then. In recent years, Belgian chocolate exports to the Netherlands have grown the most, and Dutch exports to Germany.
Of all Dutch chocolate imports, 38 percent (459 million euros) comes from Belgium. In the vegetables and roots category, more than a third (35 percent) also come from there. In the case of alcoholic beverages, Belgium accounts for 19 percent of Dutch imports. The most important product in this category, with a share of 58 percent, is beer.
Of the total Dutch imports of food and drinks, a total of 44.6 billion euros in the first three quarters of 2023, 7 billion euros came from Belgium. Only Germany is a larger supplier with 8.8 billion euros.
