The value of Irish exports of food and live animals in October stood at €1.48 billion, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
This marks an increase of €308 million or 26% when compared with the same month last year (€1.17 billion).
The data shows that food and live animal exports between January and October were valued at almost €12.5 billion, up from just under €12 billion in the same period in 2023.
In the first 10 months of the year, meat and meat preparations exports were worth €3.85 billion, up from €3.79 billion in 2023.
Dairy products and birds’ eggs exports were valued at €3.4 billion (2023: €3.37 billion), while cereals and cereal preparations increased in value from €647 million to €707 million.
For the first 10 months of the year, €4.4 billion worth of food and live animals was exported to the EU, €3.48 billion to Britain, €1.57 billion to Northern Ireland, €784 million to the US, €413 million to China, and €1.78 billion to the rest of the world.
Imports
The CSO data shows that imports of food and live animals into Ireland were valued at just over €1 billion in October, up from €926 million in the same month last year.
From January to October 2024, these imports were valued at €8.72 billion, compared with €8.37 billion in the corresponding period last year.
Up to the end of October this year, imports of cereals and cereal preparations were recorded at €1.58 billion, up from €1.4 billion in the same 10-month period last year.
Imports of vegetables and fruits were valued at €1.59 billion in the period (2023: €1.4 billion), while imports of feeding stuff for animals (excluding milled cereals) were down from €1.18 billion to €1.07 billion.
Meat and meat preparations imports up to the end of October were valued at €992 million (2023: €986 million) and dairy products and birds’ eggs imports were valued at €893 million (2023: €851 million).
By the end of October, €3.5 billion worth of food and live animals was imported into Ireland from the EU, €2.18 billion from Britain, €1.2 billion from Northern Ireland, €300 million from the US, €124 million from China, and €1.39 billion from the rest of the world.
CSO
Commenting on the data, Ciarán Counihan, statistician in the CSO International Trade in Goods Division, said that Ireland’s overall exports of goods in October 2024 were €21.2 billion.
“Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products made up half of this value at €11.1 billion (53%).
“Exports of goods for the first ten months of the year were over €187 billion, an increase of 13% on the same period of 2023.
“When seasonally adjusted, exports of goods decreased by €1.6 billion when compared with September 2024.
“The unadjusted imports for October 2024 were valued at €11.3 billion, a 2% decrease compared with October 2023. Seasonally adjusted imports were €10.7 billion in October 2024.
“Exports to Great Britain have fallen by 10% over the last ten months of 2024, while exports to the US have grown by 30% in the same period,” he said.