New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that Ireland exported more than €196 billion worth of goods and imported €140 billion worth of goods in 2023.
The CSO said the European Union accounted for more than €81 billion of the country's exports, while the US was the largest single export partner with exports of €54 billion.
Ireland's biggest import partner in 2023 was the UK, accounting for €26 billion of Irish imports, but the UK's share of total imports has fallen from 34% to 19% over the past 25 years.
Today's figures show €22 billion worth of exports were sent to Asia last year, and one-fifth of total Irish imports, of which China accounted for €9 billion.
Ireland imported €5.7 billion more from Asia than the country exported in 2023.
Meanwhile, Ireland exported €1.8 billion of goods to Africa in 2023 and imported €1 billion.
€868m was exported to South America and almost €1 billion to Oceania in 2023, the CSO added.
The CSO also said that exports of Chemicals & Related Products accounted for almost two-thirds of total exports, with a value of more than €126 billion.
Machinery & Transport Equipment accounted for 13% of exports and Food & Live Animals were €14.4 billion, or 7% of the total.
Meanwhile, Machinery & Transport Equipment made up 38% of total imports, with a value of over €53 billion. This includes imports of aircraft.
Imports of Chemicals & Related Products accounted for 28%, while Food & Live Animals imports accounted for 7% of the total, the CSO said.
