Ireland’s digital exports now third largest internationally

Surpassing €300bn, digital exports are proving to be an economic sweetspot

Sun, 21 Apr, 2024 - 14:04

An expert in Irish and international trade, John Whelan is a former Chief Executive of the Irish Exporters Association, a role he held for more than a decade and previously served as an export industry adviser to the AIB Bank Group.

Digital Ireland Conference, held last week in Dublin Castle, underlines Ireland’s position as a digital leader at the heart of European and global digital developments. Newly appointed Minister for Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, Peter Burke TD promulgated this message to tech leaders, regulators and policymakers gathered at the conference as he laid out his department’s and Ireland’s credentials in the digital world.

The conference could not have come at a better time following the release of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) report on Global Trade which shows Ireland’s exports of digitally delivered services stood at €309bn in 2023, registering a 10% increase from the previous year. The country’s performance has ratcheted up rapidly into the top three globally, just behind leaders USA and UK and substantially exceeding the digital output from Germany, India, and China.