Ireland's exports increased between January and June, while imports fell.
New data from the Central Statistics Office shows that exports of goods jumped 6% in the first half of the year, with a value of over €107 billion.
Meanwhile, goods imports dropped by 8% compared with the same period last year.
Exports of goods increased by €6.5 billion in the first half of this year, while imports decreased by €5.5 billion.
In both cases Chemicals & Related Products showed the largest changes.
Exports of Chemicals & Related Products grew by €3.7 billion in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, while imports of Chemicals & Related Products fell by €5.6 billion.
In June 2024, Ireland's unadjusted exports of goods dropped by €1.8 billion to €16.6 billion when compared with June 2023.
The unadjusted imports for June 2024 were valued at €11.8 billion, down €700 million on June 2023.
Today's data shows that exports to the United States have grown by 23% or €6.2 billion so far this year, with the export of Chemicals & Related Products accounting for €5.8 billion of that increase.
Exports to Great Britain dropped 13%.
Carol Lynch, Partner in the BDO Customs and International Trade Services Department, said while the value of exports has increased by 6% from January to June, what is interestingly and maybe significantly, is the softening of exports over the month of June when compared with both May and June of last year.
"Most of this slump was concentrated in exports of chemicals and related products to the UK, where the value of exports fell by €1.164 billion relative to June 2023," she said.
"By contrast, the value of exports of chemicals and related goods to the USA was identical when compared with June 2023."
"On a year on year basis, though the value of chemicals and related products exports to the UK has seen a considerable decline relative to 2023, exports to the USA have increased in value by €5.75bn."
"This demonstrates the flexibility of the Irish pharma sector as it pivots away from Covid era vaccines to other pharmaceutical products."
"While this may give rise to some concern, it is important to understand that this is only one data point, and we await to see if this is indicative of a more worrying trend."
