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Quarter-to-quarter, import unit  value  of food registered  a  negative  growth  of  0,4%, while  fats  and  oils  and  grain  mill products  were  at  a  positive  growth  of  5,0%  and  4,4%,respectively.

Main food export destinations and products
Asia was the  main  export destination during 2018:  Q4 for South Africa. It accounted for 31%  of  the total  share of exports followed by Africa,  Europe  and  Americas with  a  share of 27%, 25% and  9%,respectively. Additionally, Oceania has a share of about 1%.
Top ten food export destinations for South Africa by countries in 2018: Q4. Countries that accounted for a huge export share of food during2018: Q4 were: China  (9,2%), Germany  (8,3%), United  States  (6,7%), United Kingdom  (5,3%),  Japan  (4,8%), Botswana  (4,6%),  Namibia  (4,0%),  Mozambique  (3,6%), the Netherlands  (3,2%)  and  Zambia (2,6%).

Main source of food imports and imported food products
Table below  presents  the  major  imported  food  products  during 2018:  Q4.  It  shows  the current quarter performance values and also the percentage change as compared to a year ago (year-on-year).

Source: Quantec, 2019

Asia accounted for a large share of food importsby accounting for 45% share, followed by Europe with 29%, then Africa and  Americas with  a share of 13%  and  10%, respectively.  Oceania accounted for a 1%share.
The  top ten countries that accounted for a large share of South  African food  imports were: China (18,6%), Germany (9,0%), the United States (6,1%), Saudi Arabia (5,6%), Nigeria (4,4%), India (4,2%), United Kingdom (4,3%), Japan (3,1%), Thailand(3,0%) and Italy(2,7%).