An increase in sales of manufactured products to markets outside Europe was the main contributor to an 8.5 per cent rise in Northern Ireland exports during 1998/99. The value of these sales rose to £3.4 billion sterling (€5.61 billion), compared with £3.1 billion the previous year.

According to the latest survey of Northern Ireland sales and exports, total sales by Northern Ireland manufacturing companies were put at £9.3 billion in 1998/99. More than 70 per cent (£6.6 billion) was sold outside Northern Ireland, but the main increase was sales to countries outside Europe, which grew by more than 20 per cent to £1.55 billion.

Sales to markets outside Northern Ireland are now estimated to support nearly 79,000 jobs (around 73 per cent of manufacturing employment). But the 20 per cent rise in exports to the rest of the world was not reflected by a similar performance closer to home. Sales to the rest of the EU continued to decline, albeit by less than 1 per cent, compared with a fall of 7 per cent in 1997/98, and so did sales to the rest of the UK, which declined by 1.2 per cent during 1998/99 to £3.2 billion.

Sales to the Republic continued to grow, but at a considerably slower pace (2 per cent) than the 6 per cent increase recorded during 1997/98. This is the lowest recorded growth in sales to the Republic since data were first published in 1991/92. Sales within Northern Ireland also fell: they were down by 1.7 per cent to £2.7 billion, continuing a downward trend which began in 1995/96.

The export figures also tend to disguise the fact that Northern Ireland's performance is heavily dependent on a small number of major exporters, such as the Belfast aerospace company, Shorts. The region's three largest exporting companies account for more than 20 per cent of total exports, and the 10 largest for 45 per cent.

Most of the growth in exports was in the transport equipment sector, where overseas sales went up by 24 per cent, accounting for half the overall increase in manufacturing exports. This sector alone now accounts for just more than one-fifth of Northern Ireland manufacturing exports.

The electrical and optical equipment sector also made a significant contribution to export growth, although this was largely due to the performance of one company. Exports in this industry went up by 12 per cent, accounting in the process for 25 per cent of the increase in manufacturing exports between 1997/98 and 1998/99.

Not surprisingly, the strength of sterling remains a major problem for Northern Ireland companies, and the continued decline in the clothing and textiles sector, where there were a number of closures and redundancies during the year, also affected overall performance. Last Friday, for example, was the final day at work for the 116 workers at the Courtaulds clothing factory in Markethill, Co Armagh, and it has also been announced that another Courtaulds-owned factory, at Plumbridge, Co Tyrone, is to close, with the loss of 124 jobs. As with the other closures and redundancies in this sector of the economy, the blame is being put on a fall in orders, and increasing competition from cheaper imports.