The value of food and live animal exports reached €4.5 billion in the first four months of the year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
This figure is up from the almost €4.1 billion of exports between January and April of 2022.
€1.5 billion worth of food and live animal exports were sent to other EU member states in the four months up to the end of April.
€1.2 billion of exports went to Britain and €555 million worth of food and live animals were sent to Northern Ireland.
The export value to the US stood at €270 million, while it was €190 million to China and €723 million to the rest of the world.
CSO
The CSO data shows that the value of imports of food and live animal in the first four months of the year stood at €3.2 billion, up from €2.8 billion in the same period in 2022.
Over €1 billion of the imports came from the EU27, €667 million from Britain and €447 million from Northern Ireland.
€135 million worth of food and live animal imports came from the US, €35 million from China and €516 million from the rest of the world.
The data also shows that the food and live animal exports were worth €757 million in April, up from €720 million in the same month in 2022.
Commenting on the Goods Exports and Imports March 2023 data, Ciarán Counihan, statistician in the CSO International Trade in Goods Division said:
“In April 2023, Ireland’s unadjusted exports of goods decreased by €2.1 billion to €15.1 billion compared with April 2022. When seasonally adjusted, exports of goods fell by over €300 million compared with March 2023.
“The unadjusted imports for April 2023 were valued at €11.4 billion, an increase of €80 million on April 2022. Seasonally adjusted imports were €12.1 billion in April 2023.
“Comparing the first four months of 2023 with the same period in 2022, exports of goods were down 5%, and the value of imports increased by 11%. Exports for the first four months of 2023 were almost €66 billion.
“Imports from Great Britain fell by 9% to €1.9 billion in April 2023 compared with April 2022. Exports to Great Britain fell by 22% to €1.2 billion in April 2023 from April 2022,” he said.