Agri-food exports offset drops in other sectors
Mr Gilmore said an increase in agri-food exports went some way to offsetting the effects of the pharmaceutical patent cliff, which accounted for most of a 5% fall-off in overall merchandise exports in 2013.
Mr Bruton said the agri-food sector continued to perform well, and exports of food and live animals were up 8%, with exports of dairy products increasing by 15%.
“This performance shows the quality and competitiveness of our agri-business sector, and the capacity of the sector to support export-orientated employment across the regions.”
Both Ministers welcomed last week’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures which showed exports of food and live animals increased 8%, by €616m, to €8,748m.
They are calculated on a different basis to the Bord Bia figures which Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney welcomed last month, indicating that 9% growth in 2013 had boosted food and beverage export values to €9,990m.
The latest figures from the CSO are not all good news for farmers and the food industry. They show that imports of food and live animals increased by 8% in 2013, to €6,050m.
These figures are estimated to include about €1.8bn of imported food brands which compete against Irish-manufactured alternatives.
The Love Irish Food organisation estimates at least €1.8bn of the €3.3bn branded products sold per year in Ireland are imported.
Thousands of jobs have been lost and food imports have risen by more than €600m annually, due to manufacture of foods such as sugar, biscuits and ice-cream moving over-seas, according to Love Irish Food.
Rising food imports have contributed to Ireland recording its lowest annual trade surplus since 2008. The surplus has slumped 12%, due to exports falling 5% to €86,890m, and imports increasing 1% to €49,635m.
