Value of Irish exports rises 5% - CSO

The value of Irish exports rose by 5 per cent in the year to April in what economists described as the quiet good news story of the struggling economy.

External trade data from the Central Statistics Office show imports fell 6 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis leading to an increase in the State’s trade surplus.

Dr Ronnie O’Toole, chief economist National Irish Bank, described the performance of Irish goods exports over the last year, which rose to €7.7 billion in April, as "remarkable".

“While worldwide exports have been in freefall since Christmas, Ireland has been virtually alone among non-oil exporting countries in actually increasing export levels.”

Over the same period there was a sharp decline in imports which dropped 27 per cent over the last 12 months to €3.9 billion in April and are down 22 per cent since the start of the year.

This has pushed the State’s trade balance to a record monthly level of €3.86 billion.

According to Dr O’Toole part of the reason for this was the strength of the pharmaceutical sector here which was largely “recession proof” and accounted for over half of all goods exports.

“The strong performance by Ireland in 2009 also reflects the underlying strength of Ireland’s multinational exporters, which remain highly competitive,” he said.

During the first quarter the value of exports from the medical and pharmaceutical sector rose 19 per cent while those of computer equipment dropped 26 per cent.

One group of exporters facing difficulties are indigenous firms for whom the UK is a significant market.

Dr O’Toole said the euro sterling exchange rate remained significantly above 2005 levels leaving many exporters into this market facing "immense pressure”.

The value of vehicle imports dropped by 76 during the first three months of the year while the collapse of the construction sector has resulted in a 50 per cent drop in iron and steel imports.

Separate wholesale price data released by the CSO showed the value of goods leaving factory gates rose 1.3 per cent in the year to May.

Over the year prices for food, including bread and confectionary rose 12.4 per cent while those for diary products fell 9.8 per cent.