Exports reach nearly €15bn in July as trade remains strong 

Despite a lack of clarity on the future of the Northern Ireland Protocol, value of goods exported to Britain during the first seven months of 2022 rose to €10bn

The unadjusted imports for July were valued at €10.5bn, an increase of more than €2.7bn from July 2021. Picture: Neil Michael

Ireland's unadjusted total exports reached €14.8bn in July 2022, according to figures released by the CSO on Thursday.

This is an increase of more than €1.6bn compared to the same month last year. However, when seasonally adjusted, exports of goods fell by more than €800m in comparison to the previous month.

The unadjusted imports for July were valued at €10.5bn, an increase of more than €2.7bn from July 2021. While seasonally adjusted goods imports were €11.7bn during July, up €52m from June.

Despite a lack of clarity on the future of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the value of goods exported to Britain during the first seven months of 2022 rose to €10bn, up 23% from the same period in 2021.

The ongoing trade uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol may be coming to an end as earlier this week the EU proposed a system reducing physical checks to a handful of vehicles entering Ireland a day.

Ireland's unadjusted exports of goods were almost €15 billion in July 2022.https://t.co/Wr42Os5DBe#CSOIreland #Ireland #Trade #IrishTrade #Exports #Imports #Businessstatistics #IrishBusiness #BusinessNews #Brexit pic.twitter.com/KQp1VtIqSA

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) September 15, 2022

According to new figures from the CSO, exports across the Irish Sea to Britain experienced a steep decline due to a fall in the exports of chemicals and related products. 

Exports to Britain dropped to below €1.2bn, down 23% in July compared to the same month last year.

However, imports from Britain remained high increasing by 58% to €1.86bn compared with July 2021. Britain made up 17% of all total imports during the month of July.

Ciarán Counihan, statistician in the international trade in goods division for the CSO, said: "Comparing the first seven months of 2022 with the same period in 2021, exports of goods increased by 28%, and the value of imports increased by 35%."

Trade across the island grew significantly during the first seven months of the year. Imports from the North rose to €2.78bn, a 24% increase from the same period last year. 

Exports to the North also increased to €2.79bn, up 36% compared to the first seven months of 2021.

Imports of organic chemicals increased by 186% to €1.79bn in July compared to the same month last year and imports of machinery specialised for particular industries rose by 151% to €373m.

The EU accounted for 42% of Ireland’s goods exports in July while the US accounted for 25%.