New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that Ireland exported €123 billion of goods in 2017, and imported €79 billion.
Our biggest export market was the USA, with €33 billion of exports. In fact, Ireland's trade surplus with the USA was €17 billion.
The figures also show that the UK was the biggest partner for goods imports, with a value of almost €19 billion.
Ireland exported over €12 billion of food and drink in 2017, of which €4.6 billion went to the UK. Ireland’s exports included 229,000 tonnes of cheese, 210,000 tonnes of butter, 165,000 tonnes of infant formula, 436 million litres of beer and 30 million litres of whiskey.
The analysis shows that Ireland imported almost €8 billion of food and drink last year, and while the country exported €4.6 billion of food and drink to the UK, Ireland €3.7 billion food and drink.
Commenting on the figures, CSO statistician Ciarán Counihan said, "Ireland’s export trade was valued at €123 billion in 2017, while there were €79 billion of goods imported.
"Ireland imported €7.7 billion of food and drink in 2017, which included €3.7 billion from the UK. Ireland’s imports included 72,000 tonnes of potatoes, 21,000 tonnes of coffee, 280 million litres of sugared non-alcoholic drinks, 70 million litres of mineral water and 83 million litres of wine," he said.
