The value of food and live animal exports from Ireland between January and November 2023 was €13.4 billion, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said.
This is down by around €100,000 when compared with the same 11-month period in 2022 (€13.5 billion).
Exports of dairy products and eggs were valued at €3.77 billion, down from almost €4 billion in the corresponding period in the previous year.
The data published today (Monday, January 15) shows that the export value of meat and meat preparations was €4.2 billion, down from €4.3 billion.
The value of live animal exports were valued at €702 million, up from €554 million between January and November 2022.
Cereals and cereal preparations exports rose from €644 million to €711 million.
Up to the end of November 2023, just over €10.2 billion worth of agricultural produce was exported from Ireland, down from €10.56 billion in the first 11 months of 2022.
Exports to other EU member states dropped from €4.3 billion to just over €4 billion in the period, while there was a slight increase in the value of exports to Britain and Northern Ireland to almost €3.9 billion.
Agricultural produce exports to the US stood at €569 million, while the exports to the rest of the world were nearly €1.7 billion.
CSO
The CSO said that the value of food and live animals into Ireland from January to November 2023 was €9.16 billion, up from €8.7 billion in the same period in the previous year.
Meat and meat preparations imports increased slightly to €1.07 billion, while imports of dairy products and eggs fell in value from just over €1 billion to €925 million.
Imports of cereals and cereal preparations were marginally down to €1.54 billion, while live animals increased from €282 million to €307 million.
€3.78 billion of food and live animal imports to Ireland came from the European Union, €2.2 billion from Britain and €1.2 billion from Northern Ireland.
Trade
Commenting on the data, Ciarán Counihan, statistician in the CSO International Trade in Goods Division said:
“In November 2023, Ireland’s unadjusted exports of goods decreased by almost €600 million to €16.5 billion when compared with November 2022. Seasonally adjusted exports were €15.8 billion in November 2023.
“The unadjusted imports for November 2023 were valued at €12.4 billion, an increase of €239 million on November 2022. When seasonally adjusted, imports of goods rose by €1 billion when compared with October 2023.
“Comparing the first 11 months of 2023 with the same period in 2022, exports of goods were down 5%, and the value of imports fell by 2%. Exports for the first 11 months of 2023 were €183 billion.”
“Exports to Great Britain grew by 11% to €1.7 billion in November 2023 when compared with November 2022, and the largest increase of 36% was in the export of chemicals and related products.
“Imports from Great Britain fell by 25% to €1.5 billion in November 2023 when compared with November 2022, and the largest drop was in the import of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials which were down by 56%,” Counihan added.