Volume of Irish exports plunged in February but values held up

Unadjusted goods exports dropped by €700m compared to the same month last year.

When seasonally adjusted, exports were also down by €500m in February compared to January’s figures, the report revealed.

Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products increased in February 2024 when compared to the same month a year earlier.

Pharma exports grew by 15pc to €6.5bn compared to a year earlier and represented 40pc of the total across the month.

This was down from almost €9bn in January, when the industry represented 48pc of all Irish exports.

Organic chemicals exports plummeted by 38pc year-on-year, the CSO found. Exports in this industry stood at around €2.3bn in February.

“Whilst the headline figure may look alarming with the decrease in value of exports of €500m relative to January 2024, when the fall in the value of pharmaceuticals is stripped out, it points to quite a strong export performance by the Irish economy,” said Carol Lynch, a partner in the customs and international trade department at consultants BDO.

“Interestingly, the value of exports for the first two months of 2024 was 8pc higher relative to the same period in 2023,” she added.

Exports to Britain stood at €1.2bn for the month, around 8pc of the total recorded in February. This was down 5pc from February 2023.

Chemicals held the largest share of exports to the market, followed by food and live animals.

“This decline is unsurprising as these figures incorporate the first month of newly introduced UK customs controls on all goods imported into Great Britain from Ireland,” Grant Thornton tax director Janette Maxwell said.

"This points to the enhanced difficulties experienced by Irish traders when selling goods into Great Britain where the Irish trader is commercially responsible for clearing the goods in Great Britain,” she added.

Exports to the European Union stood at €7.2bn in February and this accounted for 45pc of total goods exports, according to the CSO. Around €2bn went to the Netherlands, while a further €1.7bn went to Germany.

The newly published CSO data also showed that exports to the US were around €4.2bn, up by just 1pc from February 2023.

The value of goods imports were also down in February.

This measure plummeted by €1.1bn year-on-year to €10bn. The largest reduction in imports in February were seen in some types of transport equipment, including aircraft, as well as organic chemicals and fuel.

Imports from Britain also dropped 34pc from the corresponding period last year.

“Although the decline is not as sharp as the January figures, the sustained decline is likely attributable to the fact that Irish traders are sourcing goods from other EU markets,” Ms Maxwell said.

Ireland’s seasonally adjusted trade surplus was €7.1bn for the month, down 14pc from January.