Switching to new export markets won’t be that easy following Brexit

The global economy has started to gain traction, at last. Global economic growth has been unbalanced since the financial crisis, but for the first time in several years all regions of the world economy should experience a synchronised upturn in 2017, according to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in its latest release.

The timing of the upswing is fortuitous for the thousands of Irish businesses who rely heavily on the UK market and can expect to see disruption to their customer base as the Brexit process grinds its way to a conclusion.

The statistics tend to lag the reality and hence the upswing is most likely already well on its way. As regards the outlook for exports, the latest available sentiment indicators show continued strong growth in international markets — the Purchasing Managers’ Index for the manufacturing and services sectors both point to a pronounced expansion in new export orders during the first two months of 2017.