A significant increase in dairy exports to Belgium helped boost the total value of dairy products and egg exports in September to a high of €654 million, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.
The latest statistics show a major jump in the value of dairy exports year on year in the month of September.
Corresponding figures for September 2021 show the total value of dairy products and egg exports was €336 million.
Ciarán Counihan, statistician in the international trade in goods division at the CSO, said an increase in dairy exports to the Netherlands also contributed to the overall jump in export value, but it was chiefly driven by exports of dairy products to Belgium during September.
The CSO report also highlights that the total value of food and live animal exports from Ireland was estimated to be €1.6 billion in September.
This suggests an increase of €459 million or 40% in September 2022 figures compared with corresponding figures for September 2021.
The latest data also show that exports of “meat and meat preparations” increased to €435 million this year during the month of September – up from €382 million on the corresponding month in 2021.
Meanwhile, the total value of vegetables and fruit this year in September was estimated to be €36 million, compared to €33 million in the same month in 2021.
The latest CSO report also details imports to Ireland by product.
It shows that the import value of live animals in September 2022 was estimated to be €27 million.
The import value of dairy products and eggs was €101 million in the same month.
Overall, Counihan said in September 2022, Ireland’s unadjusted exports of goods increased by €4.8 billion to €19.6 billion compared with September 2021.
The unadjusted imports for September 2022 were valued at €13 billion – an increase of more than €4.5 billion on September 2021.