Business

Exports grew €2.1bn in October following two months of decline

Increase was driven by growth in exports from the pharmaceutical industry, but whole year exports still lag 2022

The State’s unadjusted exports of goods saw a marginal increase of €71m to €17.6bn in October when compared with the same month last year. Photograph: Dublin Port Company

Colin Gleeson
Fri Dec 15 2023 - 13:15

The pharmaceutical industry drove a €2.1 billion increase in Irish exports to €17.8 billion in October compared to September following two consecutive months of decline, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.

The State’s unadjusted exports of goods saw a marginal increase of €71 million to €17.6 billion in October when compared with the same month last year. When adjusted for seasonal factors Irish exports amounted to €17.8 billion. That figure was up by 14 per cent compared with September.

Carol Lynch, partner at BDO Customs and International Trade Services, said the report indicated a shift in Ireland’s export trends. “This increase can be attributed to increased activity in the pharmaceutical sector. While exports of organic chemicals continue to fall, there has been a rise in pharmaceutical products. It remains to be seen if this trend will sustain into the last quarter of 2023.”

Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products increased by 16 per cent to €7.6 billion in October compared with the same period last year. They represented 43 per cent of total exports. Exports of organic chemicals fell 23 per cent to €2.5 billion.

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Comparing the first 10 months of 2023 with the same period in 2022, the CSO data shows exports of goods were down 5 per cent down, or €9.6 billion, to €167 billion. Ms Lynch said this downturn in export performance was “particularly notable” in August and September, with reductions of €3 billion and €3.5 billion respectively in those months.

Jarlath O’Keefe, partner in tax at Grant Thornton Ireland, said the 5 per cent drop was not unexpected and can mainly be attributed to a post Covid-19 decrease of 23 per cent in the export of organic chemicals due to a reduction in demand for vaccines. He said this was reflected in global market trends, which are also impacted by current geopolitical uncertainty in Russia and Ukraine, as well as the Middle East.

Exports to Britain fell by 29 per cent to €1.2 billion in October when compared with the same month of 2022, with the largest decrease in the export of chemicals and related products at 75 per cent.

The unadjusted imports for October were valued at €10.8 billion, which represented a fall of €1.7 billion on October 2022. When seasonally adjusted imports of goods decreased by €1 billion, or 9 per cent, when compared with September.

Overall, there was an increase of 77 per cent, or €3.1 billion, in the seasonally adjusted trade surplus to €7.3 billion in October compared with September.

Exports to Britain were 7 per cent of total exports in October. The products which accounted for the largest share of exports were food and live animals at €351 million and machinery and transport equipment at €268 million.

Exports to Britain for January to October increased by €545 million (4 per cent) to €15 billion when compared with the first 10 months of 2022.

The EU accounted for €7.7 billion of total goods exports in October, of which €2.3 billion went to Germany; €1.7 billion went to the Netherlands; and €1.3 billion went to Belgium.

The USA was the main non-EU destination accounting for €4.9 billion (28 per cent) of total exports in October. Those exports were down by 14 per cent, which Mr O’Keefe described as “a concern” given the US represents 28 per cent of our total exports.

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter

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