Ireland’s exports grow 21% - latest CSO report

Carol Lynch, Partner & Head of Customs and International Trade Services, featured in The Irish Times with her commentary on latest update from CSO. Read Carol's full commentary.

Ireland exported €21.2 billion of goods in October, up a fifth compared to a year ago, driven by surging pharmaceutical and medical product sales to Europe and the US.

The latest trade data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows goods exports for the first 10 months of 2024 were up 13 per cent year-on-year to €187 billion. They hit €22 billion in September – a record for a single month.

Medical and pharmaceutical products – sectors dominated by the multinational sector here – accounted for more than half of the value of goods exported in October, the CSO said.

The total value of pharmaceutical exports jumped 49 per cent to €11.1 billion in October from the same month in 2023.

Exports to Britain, meanwhile, have fallen 10 per cent over the first 10 months of 2024, the CSO said, even as sales to the US have grown by 30 per cent.

Carol Lynch, customs and trade partner with BDO Ireland, said the US’s status as the Republic’s largest trade partner could make the economy vulnerable to any tariffs introduced in 2025 after Donald Trump takes office again in January.

“Irish companies should continue to monitor the position in the US and the potential for the introduction of additional tariffs in 2025,” she said. “This should become clearer in January after the presidential inauguration.”

Ms Lynch said Irish exports should also explore the potential of diverting goods to the Mercosur bloc of South American countries after a trade deal, the biggest ever negotiated by the EU, was agreed earlier this month.

Meanwhile, goods imports have fallen by €4 billion in the first 10 months compared with last year, the CSO said. Imports in October were down 2 per cent versus a year earlier, leaving the Republic with a trade surplus of €9.95 billion. That was down 11 per cent from September.