Ireland imports 46 million ladies' t-shirts from Asia

According to Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures on trade imports and exports, there were more than 56 million ladies’ and girls’ t-shirts imported and over 30 million ladies’ and girls’ jumpers brought into Ireland overall.

More than €1.2bn of Ireland’s clothing and apparel imports, or 60% of the overall total, came from Asia in 2019 - with almost 70 million women's t-shirts and jumpers bought from the continent.

According to Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures on trade imports and exports, there were more than 56 million ladies’ and girls’ t-shirts imported and over 30 million ladies’ and girls’ jumpers brought into Ireland overall.

Of these, 46 million and 23 million respectively came from Asia.

Almost one-third of total exports, or €47bn worth of goods, went to the US in 2019, making it our largest single export market, the CSO said.

There were €79bn of goods exported to Europe in 2019, with almost half going to Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands combined.

The UK accounted for a further €15.7bn. 

Almost €57bn of goods were imported from Europe, of which more than €20bn came from the UK, our largest import partner, the CSO found.

Asia's growing importance for Irish trade was laid bare, accounting for €17.4bn of our exports in 2019 - making it a larger export destination than any country in Europe, with €8.2bn exported to China.

Ireland's largest trading partners in Asia are China and Japan, while it exported €1.7bn to Africa and €700m to South America in 2019.

CSO statistician Ciarán Counihan said: "In 2019, Ireland exported €152bn of goods and imported €91bn. More than €57bn of our exports went to EU countries, and a further €15bn was exported to the UK. 

"Ireland imported more than €33bn from the EU and €20bn from the UK. We also imported €14bn from the USA and more than €12bn from Asia."

Ireland exported €152 billion of goods in 2019 and imported €91 billionhttps://t.co/aGfoJa8yNk #CSOIreland #Ireland #Trade #IrishTrade #IrelandsTradeInGoods #Exports #Imports #Businessstatistics #IrishBusiness #BusinessNews #Brexit pic.twitter.com/HIjWo7N3mG

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) December 14, 2020

Almost a third, or €49bn worth, of all our exports in 2019 were medical and pharmaceutical products, the trade figures showed.

The proportion of our trade with the UK has fallen from 28% of total exports in 1994 to 10% in 2019, and from 37% of total imports in 1994 to 22% in 2019, the CSO found.

Ireland exported almost €4bn of food and beverages to the UK in 2019 and imported €4.3bn.