Irish exports fell 43% in April compared to March as tariffs hit trade 

CSO says fall in the value of exports of goods in April compared with March 'is primarily driven by a decline in exports to the US'

During April, €21.9bn worth of goods was exported out of Ireland, 43% lower than the €38.1bn recorded in March. 

The value of Irish exports declined by 43% in April compared to March, driven primarily by a drop-off in exports to the US following the introduction of tariffs by President Donald Trump.

On April 2, Mr Trump announced wide-sweeping tariffs on all imports into the US. The EU was initially hit with a 20% tariff.

However, after equity and bond markets reacted badly to the new tariffs, Mr Trump was forced to backtrack, announcing a 90-day period where all of his tariffs would be reduced down to 10%. This pause is due to expire on July 8.

According to new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), during April, €21.9bn worth of goods was exported out of Ireland, which is 43% lower than the €38.1bn recorded in March, as companies rushed to get products to the US ahead of the imposition of tariffs.

Ireland's unadjusted exports of goods fell to €21.9 billion in April 2025https://t.co/aKIhjyuQO0#CSOIreland #Ireland #Trade #IrishTrade #Exports #Imports #Businessstatistics #IrishBusiness #BusinessNews pic.twitter.com/QzcwE5AF8Y

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) June 17, 2025

CSO statistician Jane Burmanje said the fall in the value of exports of goods in April compared with March “is primarily driven by a decline in exports to the US”.

Exports of goods to the US fell by €16bn, or 62%, to €9.7bn in April 2025, compared to the €25.7bn recorded in March. Of the €9.7bn worth of goods exported to the US in April, 84.4% were chemicals and related products, which include medical and pharmaceutical products.

The category with the largest month-on-month decline was medical and pharmaceutical products, down by €12.8bn. In the first four months of the year, this category represented 60.2% of total exports.

During April, Ireland’s top exporting markets were the US, the Netherlands, and Britain, representing 44.5%, 9.5%, and 6.2% of total export goods respectively.

While the value of exports is down month-on-month, it is still up by €2.5bn compared to April 2024. In the same period, exports of goods to the US rose by €3.2bn to €9.7bn in April 2025.

The value of imports declined by 18%, or €2.4bn, to €10.8bn in April 2025 compared with March. Compared to April last year, the value of imports during the month fell by 0.2%, to €10.75bn.

Ireland imported the highest value of goods from Germany, Britain and the US in April 2025, with these countries representing 15%, 12.4%, and 11.3% of the total import trade for the month.