Almost 54,000t of beef, with a total estimated value of €183 million, was imported from other countries to the Republic of Ireland in 2022.
According to the Central Statistics Office’s (CSO’s) preliminary results for last year, the level of beef imported to Ireland in 2022 increased by 56%, in terms of volume.
The value of the beef imported in 2022 increased by 17% relative to 2021 beef import values.
In contrast, the value of Irish beef exported in 2022 exceeded €2.5 billion, which was up 18% in terms of value when compared to the amount of beef exported from Ireland in 2021.
Ireland also exported 285,000 head of cattle in 2022 with an export value of approximately €170 million.
Live cattle exports increased by 15% in 2022 when compared to 2021 levels, a trend that was mainly driven by an increase in the intra-community trading of calves.
2022 food and live animal exports
The CSO has said that food and live animal exports were worth an estimated €14.8 billion in 2022.
This is an increase of a fifth compared to the previous year when the value of such exports was €12.1 billion.
During 2022, the CSO estimated that over €4.7 billion worth of meat and meat preparations were exported, up from just over €4 billion in 2021.
The value of exports of dairy products and eggs stood at €4.5 billion, compared to €3.2 billion in the previous year.
Cereal and cereal preparations exports stood at almost €700 million in 2022, live animal exports were €591 million and fruit and vegetables exports were €378 million.
Overall exports
According to data published last week, the first CSO estimates for 2022 show that overall exports were valued at a record €208 billion, an increase of more than €42 billion when compared with 2021.
The export of chemical and related products was worth almost €134 billion, which jumped from €102.6 billion in 2021.
Imports were valued at €140 billion, up 35% compared on the previous year.
Exports to Britain rose from €14.4 billion in 2021 to €17.1 billion last year, with food and live animal exports to Britain worth €3.8 billion.
Exports to Northern Ireland were valued at €4.9 billion, up from €3.7 billion. Food and live animals exports to Northern Ireland were valued at €1.6 billion.
Imports from Britain increased by 55% to €24 billion in 2022, while imports from Northern Ireland grew by a third to €5.3 billion.
The value of exports to the 27 EU member states rose from €61.6 billion to €80.6 billion.
Exports to the US stood at €63 billion, up from €52.5 billion in 2021.