Exports of food and live animals reached over €6.5 billion from January to May this year, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

This is down from the €6.7 billion worth of food and live animals exported from January to May in 2025.

In May 2026 alone, exports were worth €1.4 billion compared to €1.5 billion in May 2025.

Exports of live animals reached €350 million to the end of May this year, up from €332 during the same period last year.

Exports of meat and meat preparations were worth €2.1 billion from January to May this year, while dairy products and bird eggs reached nearly €1.7 billion.

€324 million worth of cereals and cereal preparations were exported in the first five months of the year.

Imports

CSO figures show that imports of food and live animals hit €4.4 billion from January to May this year, down from nearly €4.6 billion in the same period in 2025.

Imports in May 2026 were worth €915 million, down from €964 million in May 2025.

€105 million worth of live animals were imported in the first five months of the year, €22 million in May alone.

Imports of meat and meat preparations increased to €563 million from January to May this year, up from €552 million in 2025.

Imports of dairy products and bird eggs reached €440 million to May this year, down 17% from January-May 2025 figures, while imports of cereals and cereal preparations were down 7% to €763 million.

CSO figures

The CSO's figures show Ireland’s overall exports of goods decreased by €6.8 billion (29.1%) to €16.5 billion in May 2026 compared with May 2025 (€23.2 billion).

The value of goods imports for May 2026 was €13.1 billion, an increase of €2 billion (17.5%) compared with May 2025 (€11.1 billion).

Both seasonally adjusted exports and imports of goods fell in May 2026 compared with April 2026, with exports falling to €16.9 billion and imports falling to €13.4 billion.

In May 2026, Ireland’s top exporting partners were the US, the Netherlands and Great Britain, with Ireland exporting 28.6% (€4.7 billion), 10.7% (€1.8 billion) and 9.8% (€1.6 billion) of total export goods respectively to these countries.