A Snapshot: UK-Faroe Islands Trade Relations

• Faroe Islands
• United Kingdom
• 18 February 2021

By Shaan Afzal-Khan

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Shaan Afzal-Khan

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Expanding on our UK-Arctic Trade and Investment Observatory, we are now building a collage of all the relevant information pertaining to UK-Faroe Islands trade relations – with particular attention on the everyday relationship between the two countries – so all the information is at your fingertips. 

Period: Four quarters to the end of Q2 2021 (unless specified otherwise)

• Rank as trading partner (goods and services):
  • 90th largest trading partner (accounting for 0.1% of total UK trade)
  • 92nd largest goods trading partner (accounting for <0.1% of UK goods trade)
  • 74th largest services trading partner (accounting for 0.1% of UK services trade)
• Rank as export market:
  • Joint 155th largest export market (accounting for <0.1% of total UK exports)
  • 130th largest goods export market (accounting for <0.1% of UK goods exports)
  • 205th largest services export market (accounting for <0.1% of UK services exports)
• Rank of import market:
  • 65th largest import market (accounting for 0.1% of total UK imports)
  • 79th largest goods import market (accounting for <0.1% of UK goods imports)
  • 47th largest services import market (accounting for 0.3% of UK services imports)
• Total trade in goods and services: £612 million (increase of 125.8% or £341 million from previous year)
• Total UK exports to Faroe Islands: £29 million (increase of 11.5% or £3 million from previous year)
• Total UK imports from Faroe Islands: £583 million (increase of 138% or £338 million from previous year)
• Outward stock of FDI (2019): <£1 million (<0.1% of the total UK outward FDI stock)
• Inward stock of FDI (2019): £3 million (<0.1% of the total UK inward FDI stock)

For further information, visit DIT’s Trade and Investment Factsheet for Faroe Islands. 

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Latest News about UK-Faroes Trade: 

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1. Conservationists are up in arms over a UK government decision to sign a new deal with the Faroe Islands following a record mass dolphin slaughter (10/02/2022): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/dolphin-faroes-fish-hunt-deal-b2011508.html 
2. Britain has secured a £2.2million fishing deal with the Faroe Islands (10/02/2022): https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1563872/brexit-news-britain-fishing-deal-eu-shackles-faroe-islands
3. BBC Buys Nordic Crime Drama ‘Trom’ Set in the Faroe Islands (28/02/2022): https://variety.com/2022/film/global/bbc-nordic-crime-drama-trom-1235164296/
4. The Faroese Minister for the Environment, Industry and Trade plans to stick with oil and gas exploration and is hopeful to share the spoils of any UK Atlantic frontier development where the reserves are close to the maritime boundary (08/12/2021): https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/368073/faroe-islands-plan-to-stick-with-oil-and-gas-dream/
5. Biological problems at Scottish farming site for Faroe-headquartered seafood producer Bakkafrost partly to blame for weakened Q3 results (10/11/2021): https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/business-finance/scottish-biological-problems-early-faroese-harvest-impact-bakkafrost-s-q3-results
6. Nordic and British pension funds to invest $130 billion by 2030 to fight climate change (02/11/2021): https://finance.yahoo.com/news/climate-investment-coalition-cic-announcement-102500570.html
7. The largest seafood processors in the UK have threatened to stop sourcing fish in the north-east Atlantic due to fears that catch percentages are putting the health of valuable fish populations at risk (22/10/2021): https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/22/stop-overfishing-or-well-buy-elsewhere-top-uk-fish-firm-warns-european-states
8. A leading animal welfare campaigner has launched a petition with calls for the UK to suspend its trade deal with the Faroe Islands following the slaughter of dolphins and whales (25/09/2021): https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1496550/faroe-islands-dolphin-hunt-whale-hunt-the-grind-dominic-dyer-petition
9. British government refuses to halt post-Brexit trade deal following the massacre of whales and dolphins in the Faroe Islands (24/09/2021): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/faroes-whale-dolphin-hunt-britain-b1926448.html
10. Bakkafrost, a Faroe Islands-based salmon farming company, pledges more than £700 million investment in Scottish subsidiary (15/09/2021): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-58569035

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Shaan Afzal-Khan is a Global Leadership Fellow at Polar Research and Policy Initiative. He is part of the PRPI team behind the UK-Arctic Trade and Investment Observatory, and serves as the lead for the Kingdom of Denmark and Russia. 

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