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E-mail: Trade@cso.ie Norita Murphy +353 1 4984295 Damian Malone +353 1 4984206

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CSO statistical release, 13 February 2015, 11am

Goods Exports and Imports

December 2014

€ million
	Exports	Imports	Surplus
Jan-Dec 2013	86,999	50,025	36,974
Jan-Dec 2014	89,074	53,590	35,484
% change	+2.4%	+7.1%	-4.0%
Seasonally adjusted
October 2014	7,549	4,645	2,904
November 2014	7,033	4,755	2,278
December 2014	8,797	4,555	4,242

Goods exports and imports increased in 2014

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Preliminary figures for 2014 indicate an increase in the value of exports of €2,075 million (+2%) to €89,074 million from 2013. Imports increased by €3,565 million (+7%) to €53,590 million resulting in a 4% decrease in the trade surplus to €35,484 million (see Table 1).

Exports of Medical and pharmaceutical products up in 2014

• Exports of Medical and pharmaceutical products increased by €973 million (+5%) to €22,268 million in 2014 while exports of Organic chemicals decreased by €423 million (-2%) to €18,166 million.

• Chemicals and related products were 58% of the value of 2014 exports.

• In 2014, the United States (22%), Great Britain (13%), Belgium (13%) and Germany (7%) were Ireland’s main export markets, accounting for 55% of the value of exports.

Highest annual imports since 2008

• In 2014 the value of imports was €53,590 million which is the highest level of annual imports since 2008 (€57,585 million).

• Comparing 2014 with 2013, imports of Machinery and transport equipment increased by €2,142 million (+17%) to €14,483 million and Miscellaneous manufactured articles increased by €715 million (+12%) to €6,834 million.

• Machinery and transport equipment (27%) and Chemicals and related products (21%) were the main import sectors in 2014.

• In 2014, Great Britain (30%), the United States (11%), Germany (8%) and China (6%) accounted for 55% of the value of imports.

Preliminary figures for December 2014 show seasonally adjusted exports of €8,797 million, up 25% on November 2014 and seasonally adjusted imports of €4,555 million, down 4% on November 2014. The seasonally adjusted trade surplus was €4,242 million in December 2014 (see Table 2).

For long labels below use to display on multiple lines	%
Food, live animals	10.4653911093366
Beverages, tobacco	1.28399862563719
Mineral fuels	0.926965167896066
Chemicals	57.9212229201999
Manufactured goods	2.07880626901193
Transport equipment	11.2052523067757
Miscellaneous articles	12.6578893584048
Other	3.46047424273782

Show Table 1 Goods Exports and Imports summary analysis

Table 1 Goods Exports and Imports summary analysis
Period		Value			Volume index¹		Unit value index¹
		Exports	Imports	Trade surplus	Base year 1990=100
		Exports	Imports	Trade surplus	Base year 1990=100
		€m	€m	€m	Exports	Imports	Exports	Imports	Terms of trade²
		€m	€m	€m	Exports	Imports	Exports	Imports	Terms of trade²
1990		18,204	15,832	2,372	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
1991		19,070	16,317	2,753	105.6	100.8	99.3	102.3	97.0
1992		21,260	16,754	4,506	121.1	105.6	96.6	100.2	96.4
1993		25,179	18,900	6,279	133.4	113.0	103.9	105.4	98.6
1994		28,891	21,945	6,946	153.2	127.9	103.8	108.1	96.0
1995		35,330	26,181	9,149	184.0	146.3	105.7	112.7	93.7
1996		38,609	28,479	10,130	202.2	160.9	105.1	111.4	94.3
1997		44,868	32,863	12,004	232.4	184.8	106.3	112.0	94.9
1998		57,322	39,715	17,607	289.2	218.3	109.1	114.6	95.2
1999		66,956	44,327	22,629	336.5	236.5	109.5	118.0	92.8
2000		83,889	55,909	27,980	401.4	275.2	115.0	128.0	89.9
2001		92,690	57,384	35,306	422.0	274.2	120.9	131.8	91.7
2002		93,675	55,628	38,047	435.1	276.6	118.5	126.7	93.5
2003		82,076	47,865	34,212	418.4	259.7	108.0	116.1	93.0
2004		84,410	51,105	33,304	446.5	283.6	104.0	113.5	91.7
2005		86,732	57,465	29,267	456.7	316.3	104.5	114.4	91.3
2006		86,772	60,857	25,915	458.0	325.2	104.4	117.7	88.7
2007		89,226	63,486	25,741	481.8	340.9	101.9	117.3	86.9
2008		86,394	57,585	28,810	484.5	300.5	98.0	119.7	81.9
2009		85,804	45,061	40,742	468.4	249.2	98.9	113.9	86.8
2010		89,703	45,764	43,940	485.5	241.3	101.2	119.2	84.9
2011		91,228	48,302	42,925	507.9	240.8	99.7	126.4	78.8
2012		91,688	49,146	42,542	479.1	231.9	105.8	133.7	79.2
2013		86,999	50,025	36,974	460.6	238.8	103.9	131.6	78.9
2014		89,074	53,590	35,484	. .	. .	. .	. .	. .

2013	Quarter 1	21,434	12,493	8,941	449.9	236.9	104.8	132.8	78.9
	Quarter 2	22,032	12,224	9,808	459.3	232.7	105.6	132.3	79.8
	Quarter 3	21,915	12,039	9,875	465.1	229.0	103.8	132.5	78.4
	Quarter 4	21,619	13,270	8,349	461.0	252.1	102.8	131.4	78.2
2014	Quarter 1	21,254	13,414	7,840	454.3	253.2	103.1	133.5	77.2
	Quarter 2	22,799	13,170	9,629	490.6	249.8	102.3	132.8	77.0
	Quarter 3	22,206	13,018	9,189	467.5	246.6	104.5	133.0	78.6
	Quarter 4	22,815	13,988	8,827	473.3	267.4	106.1	131.8	80.5

2013	January	6,729	4,442	2,287	419.9	251.3	105.8	133.6	79.2
	February	6,619	3,913	2,706	424.1	222.4	103.1	133.0	77.5
	March	8,086	4,138	3,948	505.8	237.1	105.6	131.9	80.1
	April	7,473	4,239	3,234	462.8	239.0	106.6	134.0	79.6
	May	7,218	3,949	3,268	452.1	228.4	105.4	130.7	80.7
	June	7,341	4,036	3,306	463.1	230.6	104.7	132.3	79.2
	July	7,601	4,021	3,580	482.7	225.1	104.0	135.0	77.0
	August	6,981	3,977	3,003	442.6	232.8	104.0	129.3	80.4
	September	7,334	4,042	3,292	469.9	229.2	103.4	133.1	77.7
	October	7,303	4,443	2,860	471.4	253.4	102.2	131.7	77.6
	November	7,734	4,447	3,288	492.2	253.8	103.0	130.8	78.7
	December	6,581	4,380	2,202	419.5	249.2	103.2	131.7	78.3
2014³	January	6,960	4,541	2,420	447.6	259.4	102.7	132.3	77.6
	February	6,792	4,079	2,714	427.8	228.5	104.9	134.9	77.7
	March	7,501	4,795	2,706	487.5	271.8	101.6	133.3	76.2
	April	7,060	4,298	2,762	461.9	244.5	100.9	132.8	76.0
	May	7,904	4,486	3,418	504.1	254.2	103.6	133.4	77.6
	June	7,835	4,387	3,448	505.8	250.7	102.3	132.3	77.4
	July	6,868	4,364	2,504	440.1	249.2	103.1	132.3	77.9
	August	7,428	4,101	3,327	468.2	232.2	104.8	133.5	78.5
	September	7,910	4,552	3,358	494.2	258.3	105.7	133.2	79.4
	October	7,606	4,710	2,897	477.6	271.9	105.2	130.9	80.4
	November	7,465	4,578	2,887	464.0	262.8	106.2	131.6	80.7
	December⁴	7,744	4,701	3,043	478.2	267.5	107.0	132.8	80.5
¹Monthly data have been rescaled to make their average equal to the annual.
²Export unit value index divided by Import unit value index.
³Revised, see background notes.
⁴December 2014 is based on current Intrastat response levels, see background notes.
. . Indices are not yet available.

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Open in Excel: Goods Export and Imports December 2014 Table 1 (XLS 17KB)

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Show Table 2 Goods Exports and Imports seasonally adjusted series

Table 2 Goods Exports and Imports seasonally adjusted¹series
Period		Value			Volume index
		Exports	Imports	Trade surplus	Base year 2010=100
		Exports	Imports	Trade surplus	Base year 2010=100
		€m	€m	€m	Exports	Imports
2014	Quarter 1	21,807	14,448	7,359	102.0	124.2
	Quarter 2	23,183	14,834	8,349	105.1	128.0
	Quarter 3	23,369	16,264	7,105	104.0	134.1
	Quarter 4	24,624	16,804	7,820	105.5	138.8
2015	Quarter 1	26,286	16,062	10,224	112.0	130.9
	Quarter 2	28,460	17,271	11,189	112.9	134.8
	Quarter 3	27,211	17,612	9,599	113.7	143.5
	Quarter 4	30,823	19,205	11,618	125.8	167.6
2016	Quarter 1	27,866	16,660	11,206	119.7	149.6
	Quarter 2	29,759	19,075	10,684	126.5	161.3
	Quarter 3	30,221	19,042	11,178	125.7	161.2
	Quarter 4	31,010	19,262	11,749	129.0	159.6
2017	Quarter 1	32,941	18,391	14,550	139.2	152.2
	Quarter 2	30,253	20,895	9,358	133.7	183.0
	Quarter 3	29,270	18,301	10,969	135.2	158.8
	Quarter 4	30,012	19,536	10,476	144.3	165.9

2014	January	7,273	4,713	2,560	102.9	121.7
	February	7,415	4,612	2,803	104.2	117.9
	March	7,119	5,123	1,996	99.0	133.0
	April	7,080	4,572	2,508	100.6	123.0
	May	8,171	5,264	2,907	109.9	134.6
	June	7,932	4,998	2,934	104.8	126.4
	July	6,951	5,591	1,360	92.7	140.2
	August	8,388	5,384	3,004	113.3	131.3
	September	8,030	5,289	2,741	105.9	130.7
	October	7,873	5,509	2,364	100.2	135.3
	November	7,408	5,799	1,609	94.1	144.6
	December	9,343	5,496	3,848	122.2	136.4

2015	January	8,641	5,007	3,633	110.1	126.5
	February	8,966	5,316	3,650	115.2	130.5
	March	8,679	5,739	2,941	110.6	135.6
	April	9,740	5,678	4,061	117.7	129.0
	May	9,376	5,887	3,489	107.8	133.7
	June	9,345	5,706	3,639	113.3	141.7
	July	9,076	6,102	2,974	113.6	147.5
	August	9,150	5,725	3,425	117.8	137.4
	September	8,986	5,786	3,200	109.6	145.7
	October	10,820	6,250	4,570	128.0	165.5
	November	9,521	6,108	3,413	120.4	158.1
	December	10,482	6,846	3,635	129.0	179.1

2016	January	9,449	5,084	4,365	127.0	145.3
	February	8,944	5,520	3,424	108.7	143.8
	March	9,473	6,056	3,417	123.3	159.6
	April	9,875	5,712	4,163	125.3	148.7
	May	9,643	6,503	3,140	124.8	167.8
	June	10,241	6,860	3,381	129.4	167.4
	July	9,202	6,188	3,014	118.3	156.8
	August	10,698	5,978	4,720	132.1	155.2
	September	10,321	6,876	3,444	126.7	171.6
	October	10,356	5,791	4,565	130.1	144.4
	November	10,420	6,848	3,572	130.0	171.3
	December	10,234	6,623	3,612	127.0	163.1

2017	January	10,774	5,602	5,172	131.9	139.4
	February	11,123	6,718	4,405	142.9	166.2
	March	11,044	6,071	4,973	142.9	151.1
	April	9,860	7,097	2,763	128.9	178.8
	May	10,546	7,019	3,527	137.5	187.7
	June	9,847	6,779	3,068	134.6	182.6
	July	9,716	5,639	4,077	125.6	146.3
	August	9,690	6,314	3,376	133.4	163.9
	September	9,863	6,348	3,515	146.6	166.2
	October	9,727	6,379	3,349	138.4	167.7
	November	9,801	6,523	3,278	138.4	163.8
	December	10,484	6,634	3,849	156.0	166.3
¹Based on seasonal patterns up to December 2016. Accordingly all values in this table may have been revised.

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Open in Excel: Goods Exports and Imports December 2017 Table 2 (XLS 13KB)

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Show Table 3 Goods Exports and Imports classified by commodity

Table 3 Goods Exports and Imports classified by commodity¹
										€million
SITC (Rev 4)			Exports				Imports
			Exports				Imports
			Dec	Dec	Jan-Dec	Jan-Dec	Dec	Dec	Jan-Dec	Jan-Dec
			2013	2014	2013	2014	2013	2014	2013	2014
0	Food and live animals		808	819	8,734	9,322	546	556	6,033	6,152
	00	Live animals other than animals of Division 03	81	49	432	398	57	68	217	249
	01	Meat and meat preparations	285	342	3,005	3,324	74	74	812	860
	02	Dairy products and birds' eggs	155	136	1,882	1,835	62	61	644	764
	03	Fish, crustaceans, molluscs and preparations thereof	48	47	481	525	19	21	211	233
	04	Cereals and cereal preparations	25	29	296	351	95	78	1,005	960
	05	Vegetables and fruit	18	21	240	260	86	88	1,026	1,036
	06	Sugars, sugar preparations and honey	5	8	116	107	24	29	387	367
	07	Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manufactures thereof	22	25	376	349	35	39	417	446
	08	Feeding stuff for animals (excl. unmilled cereals)	25	23	250	238	62	57	899	772
	09	Miscellaneous edible products and preparations	143	139	1,657	1,935	32	41	415	463
1	Beverages and tobacco		92	103	1,174	1,144	77	76	823	833
	11	Beverages	89	97	1,090	1,072	74	71	733	746
	12	Tobacco and tobacco manufactures	4	6	84	71	4	5	90	87
2	Crude materials, inedible, except fuels		131	151	1,732	1,801	51	63	672	724
	21	Hides, skins and furskins, raw	12	14	145	164	0	0	0	0
	22	Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits	2	1	11	9	3	2	31	26
	23	Crude rubber (incl. synthetic and reclaimed)	0	0	3	4	1	1	15	17
	24	Cork and wood	7	9	122	154	6	13	100	127
	25	Pulp and waste paper	3	4	53	61	5	4	47	49
	26	Textile fibres and their wastes	8	9	141	133	1	2	19	21
	27	Crude fertilisers and minerals (excl. coal, petroleum and precious stones)	7	10	135	143	7	8	113	115
	28	Metalliferous ores and metal scrap	83	88	1,016	1,024	16	19	188	203
	29	Crude animal and vegetable materials nes	9	15	106	109	11	14	159	166
3	Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials		44	37	823	826	538	382	6,886	6,474
	32	Coal, coke and briquettes	4	4	76	80	21	7	219	164
	33	Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials	39	28	721	709	373	257	5,022	4,950
	34	Gas, natural and manufactured	1	1	19	19	139	112	1,576	1,282
	35	Electric current	0	4	6	18	5	6	69	78
4	Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes		4	5	52	63	18	16	235	217
	41	Animal oils and fats	3	5	42	53	1	1	13	14
	42	Fixed vegetable fats and oils	1	1	8	7	15	14	199	185
	43	Animal or vegetable fats and oils, processed; waxes	0	0	2	2	2	1	23	18
5	Chemicals and related products		3,374	4,296	50,394	51,593	886	920	10,873	11,396
	51	Organic chemicals	1,464	1,377	18,589	18,166	211	191	2,548	3,018
	52	Inorganic chemicals	15	8	197	168	14	23	209	206
	53	Dyeing, tanning and colouring materials	6	9	150	117	12	15	183	198
	54	Medical and pharmaceutical products	1,205	2,113	21,295	22,268	356	402	4,499	4,476
	55	Essential oils; perfume materials; toilet and cleansing preparations	422	509	6,250	6,946	100	107	1,084	1,126
	56	Fertilisers (other than those of Division 27)	0	0	3	3	54	34	472	415
	57	Plastics in primary forms	18	28	312	336	60	56	804	817
	58	Plastics in non-primary forms	29	30	391	421	37	40	460	509
	59	Chemical materials and products nes	214	223	3,207	3,168	41	53	613	632
6	Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material		126	132	1,711	1,852	293	327	3,876	4,208
	61	Leather; leather manufactures nes; dressed furskins	1	2	27	35	1	1	17	19
	62	Rubber manufactures nes	4	4	64	68	17	20	274	293
	63	Cork and wood manufactures (excl. furniture)	16	15	242	240	10	15	160	200
	64	Paper, paperboard and articles thereof	11	11	152	152	66	67	819	826
	65	Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related products	9	15	139	158	26	34	330	406
	66	Non-metallic mineral manufactures nes	20	25	292	351	30	35	389	428
	67	Iron and steel	8	10	119	139	34	40	508	584
	68	Non-ferrous metals	5	5	64	75	45	44	557	551
	69	Manufactures of metals nes	52	44	611	635	63	70	824	901
7	Machinery and transport equipment		1,050	1,069	10,494	9,981	1,253	1,566	12,341	14,483
	71	Power generating machinery and equipment	61	37	809	466	50	42	787	604
	72	Machinery specialised for particular industries	47	43	563	669	237	193	1,275	2,164
	73	Metalworking machinery	2	2	22	26	5	12	70	93
	74	General industrial machinery and equipment nes and parts nes	113	147	1,428	1,555	103	124	1,218	1,395
	75	Office machines and automatic data processing machines	520	516	4,019	3,809	262	334	2,848	3,077
	76	Telecommunications and sound equipment	64	74	672	765	133	154	1,127	1,354
	77	Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances nes and parts	136	201	2,264	1,986	164	206	1,959	2,178
	78	Road vehicles (incl. air-cushion vehicles)	16	18	233	256	248	345	1,878	2,575
	79	Other transport equipment	92	32	484	449	51	158	1,179	1,044
8	Miscellaneous manufactured articles		859	967	10,712	11,275	527	609	6,119	6,834
	81	Prefab buildings; plumbing and electrical fixtures and fittings	8	9	111	130	13	17	158	192
	82	Furniture and parts thereof; bedding, cushions etc	13	11	122	139	28	34	321	369
	83	Travel goods, handbags and similar containers	1	1	15	15	11	13	108	118
	84	Articles of apparel; clothing accessories	18	27	216	258	127	140	1,512	1,633
	85	Footwear	3	4	31	37	25	25	309	320
	87	Professional, scientific and controlling apparatus nes	275	335	3,585	4,213	102	127	1,309	1,508
	88	Photographic apparatus; optical goods; watches and clocks	79	78	1,072	1,048	18	21	219	249
	89	Miscellaneous manufactured articles nes	464	502	5,560	5,435	203	233	2,184	2,445
9	Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere		44	109	543	610	93	103	1,070	1,164
Unclassified estimates²			48	55	630	609	98	83	1,096	1,103

Total			6,581	7,744	86,999	89,074	4,379	4,701	50,025	53,590
¹December 2014 is based on current Intrastat response levels, see background notes.
² Estimates for which a commodity classification is not available.

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Open in Excel: Goods Export and Imports December 2014 Table 3 (XLS 23KB)

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Show Table 4 Goods Exports and Imports classified by country

Table 4 Goods Exports and Imports classified by country¹
								€million
Country	Exports				Imports
	Dec	Dec	Jan-Dec	Jan-Dec	Dec	Dec	Jan-Dec	Jan-Dec
	2013	2014	2013	2014	2013	2014	2013	2014
Austria	24	34	447	355	21	15	222	212
Belgium	735	855	11,227	11,790	75	94	999	1,112
Bulgaria	4	5	70	66	5	6	22	34
Croatia²	2	2	14	28	0	0	1	5
Cyprus	1	3	32	20	0	0	3	2
Czech Republic	42	39	461	466	32	41	331	398
Denmark	39	54	516	591	31	39	685	421
Estonia	2	1	22	18	1	2	15	41
Finland	26	33	348	318	7	11	103	139
France	339	421	4,042	4,676	190	318	2,198	2,527
Germany	444	501	6,621	5,856	355	379	4,124	4,255
Great Britain	1,132	1,065	12,620	11,842	1,434	1,435	15,870	16,192
Greece	25	13	273	274	2	2	30	34
Hungary	20	23	264	246	10	10	105	123
Italy	148	161	2,299	2,103	75	78	875	919
Latvia	3	3	47	55	2	1	23	28
Lithuania	2	2	33	37	10	6	79	68
Luxembourg	7	8	59	79	2	4	51	38
Malta	2	2	24	24	1	1	11	8
Netherlands	297	296	3,678	3,386	235	239	2,691	2,642
Northern Ireland	112	130	1,478	1,586	81	91	1,016	1,078
Poland	73	75	817	954	35	41	387	433
Portugal	28	29	325	355	12	14	143	163
Romania	19	34	375	357	9	8	109	98
Slovakia	5	4	61	55	8	4	61	46
Slovenia	3	4	35	37	5	8	17	35
Spain	223	175	2,695	2,455	76	88	776	869
Sweden	62	80	741	742	34	31	375	501
EU Country not specified³	1	6	25	42	91	114	1,142	1,266
Total EU	3,820	4,058	49,649	48,812	2,837	3,082	32,463	33,689
of which Euro-Zone⁴	2,308	2,545	32,188	31,855	1,066	1,259	12,318	13,073

Australia	37	84	711	701	10	7	91	80
Brazil	25	16	262	256	14	14	274	159
Canada	45	48	772	722	36	19	340	358
China⁵	147	197	1,941	2,111	279	321	3,091	3,481
India	82	26	304	248	24	26	387	402
Japan	158	127	1,692	1,761	165	161	1,043	1,760
Malaysia	13	24	198	217	16	17	208	229
Mexico	38	74	692	1,216	27	21	317	313
Norway	17	24	345	320	24	83	1,103	938
Russia	37	29	637	722	19	13	148	226
Saudi Arabia	36	93	645	761	0	0	75	12
Singapore	44	45	560	561	29	24	430	350
South Africa	19	19	259	278	7	14	92	93
South Korea	24	43	321	466	42	78	408	483
Switzerland	588	475	5,116	5,255	64	78	838	1,251
Taiwan	10	11	130	146	26	25	218	244
Thailand	11	11	138	168	33	49	356	406
Turkey	23	26	429	445	37	46	297	435
USA	1,127	1,911	18,388	19,808	413	466	5,233	5,812
Other countries	278	401	3,784	3,976	256	116	2,223	2,406
Country unknown⁶	2	2	27	123	21	40	389	464

Total	6,581	7,744	86,999	89,074	4,379	4,701	50,025	53,590
¹December 2014 is based on current Intrastat response levels, see background notes.
²Croatia joined the EU on 1 July 2013.
³Includes estimates for traders below the Intrastat threshold and transactions where the EU country was not specified.
⁴Euro-zone members from January 2014: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Greece, Ireland, Italy,
the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus, Slovakia, Estonia and Latvia.
⁵China includes Hong Kong and Macao.
⁶Trade for which the country of origin or country of final destination is unknown.

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Table 5 Goods Exports and Imports classified by commodity and principal countries¹
									€million
		Exports				Imports
	Country by Section level of SITC	Dec	Dec	Jan-Dec	Jan-Dec	Dec	Dec	Jan-Dec	Jan-Dec
		2013	2014	2013	2014	2013	2014	2013	2014
Great Britain		1,132	1,065	12,620	11,842	1,434	1,435	15,870	16,192
0	Food and live animals	366	356	3,456	3,552	245	265	2,452	2,536
1	Beverages and tobacco	21	19	289	255	32	31	281	308
2	Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	26	31	361	415	9	11	138	138
3	Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	39	29	538	397	382	296	4,496	4,174
4	Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	1	2	16	12	3	3	43	40
5	Chemicals and related products	346	278	4,310	3,465	170	198	1,967	2,129
6	Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	47	58	686	815	118	134	1,517	1,634
7	Machinery and transport equipment	175	175	1,699	1,668	220	246	2,415	2,534
8	Miscellaneous manufactured articles	86	94	954	972	198	203	1,946	2,065
9	Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere	24	24	311	291	55	48	615	633
Other EU^2,3		2,688	2,993	37,029	36,970	1,404	1,647	16,594	17,497
0	Food and live animals	272	282	3,290	3,446	204	220	2,540	2,576
1	Beverages and tobacco	27	29	337	353	30	32	395	370
2	Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	82	81	945	926	17	22	228	249
3	Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	4	7	106	101	12	19	655	450
4	Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	3	4	29	44	10	11	146	136
5	Chemicals and related products	1,404	1,667	22,888	22,769	376	378	4,688	4,459
6	Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	45	52	702	739	109	116	1,472	1,581
7	Machinery and transport equipment	490	465	4,430	4,122	422	598	3,821	4,704
8	Miscellaneous manufactured articles	332	370	3,918	4,084	103	125	1,246	1,476
9	Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere	29	36	383	385	121	127	1,403	1,497
USA		1,127	1,911	18,388	19,808	413	466	5,233	5,812
0	Food and live animals	10	13	120	153	31	21	290	237
1	Beverages and tobacco	34	41	350	350	1	1	14	18
2	Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	2	4	26	31	2	2	39	34
3	Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	0	0	144	280	0	0	27	142
4	Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	-	-	0	0	0	0	2	1
5	Chemicals and related products	690	1,430	12,795	13,764	153	180	1,893	2,109
6	Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	21	7	151	119	21	24	292	297
7	Machinery and transport equipment	82	101	1,038	1,195	143	166	1,873	2,061
8	Miscellaneous manufactured articles	286	314	3,719	3,880	58	67	759	870
9	Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere	2	2	44	35	4	4	44	43
China⁴		147	197	1,941	2,111	279	321	3,091	3,481
0	Food and live animals	45	51	381	544	2	2	25	30
1	Beverages and tobacco	0	0	4	4	0	0	0	0
2	Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	5	7	93	108	1	3	27	35
3	Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	-	-	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	0	0	3	2	-	0	0	0
5	Chemicals and related products	43	76	462	753	13	17	192	213
6	Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	1	3	20	28	22	29	294	348
7	Machinery and transport equipment	31	36	734	373	155	166	1,515	1,684
8	Miscellaneous manufactured articles	20	23	244	299	81	102	996	1,129
9	Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere	-	0	0	0	3	3	40	40
Rest of World		1,487	1,578	17,020	18,343	851	831	9,238	10,607
0	Food and live animals	114	116	1,487	1,626	64	48	726	774
1	Beverages and tobacco	10	14	194	182	14	13	133	136
2	Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	15	27	308	321	21	25	240	268
3	Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	0	0	34	47	144	67	1,708	1,708
4	Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	0	0	4	4	4	2	44	40
5	Chemicals and related products	891	846	9,939	10,842	174	148	2,132	2,487
6	Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	12	14	151	151	22	24	301	347
7	Machinery and transport equipment	273	293	2,593	2,622	313	390	2,718	3,500
8	Miscellaneous manufactured articles	135	166	1,875	2,040	88	111	1,172	1,294
9	Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere	38	101	436	507	7	5	63	53

Total		6,581	7,744	86,999	89,074	4,379	4,701	50,025	53,590
¹ December 2014 is based on current Intrastat response levels, see background notes.
²Croatia joined the EU on 1 July 2013.
³Includes estimates for traders below the Intrastat threshold and transactions where the EU country was not specified.
⁴ China includes Hong Kong and Macao.

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Background Notes

Introduction

Goods Exports and Imports statistics provide data on the movement of goods between countries. The statistics are a combination of Customs-based non-EU trade statistics and data from the Intrastat Survey of Irish traders involved in trade with other EU member states. The collection of trade data is the responsibility of VIMA (a branch of Revenue). The CSO is responsible for processing and disseminating the data.

Revisions

Trade figures are subject to revision on the incorporation of late Intrastat and VAT returns and corrections made by traders. When the preliminary results for a month are published, the results for months -1 November 2014 in this publication), -4 (August 2014) and -8 (April 2014) are revised.

Intrastat System

The Intrastat system has two components. Firstly, the Intrastat survey (conducted by the Revenue Commissioners), in which traders, above the Intrastat survey trade thresholds, make detailed monthly returns giving information on the quantity and value of all exports to or imports from EU countries.

The total number of traders required to make a detailed import return is around 6,700 while around 1,900 must make a detailed export return. The response rate in terms of number of traders in December 2014 was 68%, covering an estimated 91% of the total value of intra-EU trade (these response rates will have increased by the next time data for December is published).

The second component of the Intrastat system is the regular VAT return, on which all traders are required to record the total value of goods imported from and exported to other EU countries. This information provides the basis for determining total EU trade for those traders below the Intrastat survey thresholds. It is also used to maintain the register of EU traders.

Extrastat System

The statistics of trade with non-EU countries are compiled from the documents supplied by importers and exporters to the Customs authorities. The document is the Single Administrative Document (SAD) used for Customs clearance purposes.

Estimation

The figures in this release include estimates for traders above the Intrastat thresholds who did not make detailed returns for the period and for traders below the thresholds who did not provide aggregate intra-EU trade figures on their VAT returns.

Estimates for Intrastat non-respondents are apportioned to individual commodities and countries whenever previous Intrastat returns are available. Estimates for traders below the Intrastat thresholds are assigned to partner country where possible, but not to commodity.

Imports incorporate an upward adjustment of 1.75% of total imports, which is included in ‘Unclassified estimates’. This special adjustment arises from the difficulty of comprehensively covering all EU imports through the Intrastat survey system. The unclassified category also includes certain miscellaneous adjustments.

More information is now being processed on lower value transactions. Prior to January 2012, transactions below €254 were grouped together, this value has now decreased to €127. Therefore, this has resulted in more detail being available at commodity level in Table 3 and at country level in Tables 4 and 5.

Unit Value Indices

The monthly unit value index measures monthly unit value trends relative to the annual levels in the preceding year using value weights relating to that year’s trade (Laspeyres index).

The annual index is compiled using value weights for both the current and previous year (Fisher index) to allow for change in the structure of trade in goods.

The monthly index series should be regarded as interim measures suitable for month-to-month comparisons within a given year. Previous monthly indices are revised when late returns are received.

When the annual unit value index is compiled, the monthly unit value indices are rescaled to make their average equal to the annual index.

Seasonally Adjusted Series

Monthly exports, imports, trade surplus and the volume series for exports and imports have been seasonally adjusted using the US Bureau of the Census X-11 Variant of the Census Method 11 Seasonal Adjustment Program. In the main, monthly projections are based on series recalculated at the end of the previous year.

Methodology

There are methodological differences between the measurement of exports and imports in this release compared with Industrial Production, National Accounts and Balance of Payments statistics. This release records the movement of all goods over the frontier at the valuation placed on the goods at the time of crossing the frontier. Industrial Production, National Accounts and Balance of Payments statistics take account of additional aspects of cross-frontier activities such as goods sent abroad for processing where goods cross the frontier without change of ownership. The CSO releases for those statistics provide more information on their methodology.

Services Exports and Imports

The quarterly Balance of Payments (BOP) statistics provide detail on Services exports and imports.

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Goods Exports and Imports

December 2014

Goods exports and imports increased in 2014

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