The Irish Exporters Association has said that export sales are now on track for their highest ever level of over €183 billion for 2012.
New figures from the association show that exports from Ireland grew in July, August and September.
The figures show that export growth was helped by strength in the "manufacturing and merchandise" sector, from firms that make pharmaceuticals, chemicals and medical devices.
These saw growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and accounted for 61% of Irish manufacturing exports.
A weakening of the euro against the dollar and sterling in the three month period, which improved the price competitiveness of Irish exports by 10% outside the euro zone, also helped the sector's performance.
Continuing the trends of earlier in the year, the export of services continued to grow, with computer services driving the growth.
But the Irish Exporters Association said that exports to the growing markets of Asia, Africa, Russia and South America were disappointing. Today's figures showed showing a drop in exports for the nine months to September to China by 4%, to India by 10%, to South Africa by 5% and to Brazil by 15%.
They also reveal that exports from the agri-food sector fell by 1% over the first nine months of the year, and computer hardware exports have fallen by 17%.
