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For more information on this release:
E-mail: Trade@cso.ie Ciarán Counihan (+353) 1 498 4215 Damian Malone (+353) 1 498 4206
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-5155
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Goods Exports and Imports

October 2019

Seasonally adjusted
€ million
 ExportsImportsSurplus
May 201913,3577,0606,297
June 201911,4917,1284,363
July 201913,8677,1196,748
August 201912,0387,3884,650
September 201912,8237,0755,749
October 201914,2727,4496,824

Seasonally adjusted goods exports exceed €14 billion in October

Figure 1 Goods Exports and Imports October 2019
go to full release

Seasonally adjusted goods exports increased by €1,449 million (+11%) to €14,272 million in October 2019 compared with September 2019, according to preliminary figures.

Seasonally adjusted goods imports increased by €374 million (+5%) to €7,449 million leading to an increase of €1,075 million (+19%) in the seasonally adjusted trade surplus to €6,824 million in October 2019 compared with the previous month (see Table 2).

€5 billion exports of Medical and pharmaceutical products in October

The (unadjusted)* value of goods exports for October 2019 was €14,216 million representing an increase of €1,961 million (+16%) when compared with October 2018. The value of goods exports for the period January to October 2019 was €127,943 million, an increase of €12,126 million (+10%) when compared with the first ten months of 2018.

Exports of Medical and pharmaceutical products increased by €602 million (+14%) to €5,016 million. This represents 35% of the value of total exports.

Exports of Organic chemicals increased by €799 million (+42%) to €2,705 million.

Exports of Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances increased by €344 million (+71%) to €829 million in October 2019 compared with October 2018.

Exports of Food and live animals increased by €173 million (+18%) to €1,118 million over the same comparative period.

Imports decrease by over €1 billion in October

The (unadjusted) value of goods imports for October 2019 was €7,927 million representing a decrease of €1,063 million (-12%) when compared with October 2018. The value of goods imports for January to October 2019 was €71,811 million, which is a decrease of €2,360 million (-3%) compared with January to October 2018.

Imports of Other transport equipment, including aircraft decreased by €1,128 million (-43%) to €1,506 million in October 2019 compared with October 2018. This represents 19% of total imports.

Imports of Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials decreased by €123 million (-24%) to €387 million.

Imports of Office machines and automatic data processing machines decreased by €96 million (-19%) to €422 million.

The value of goods imports for October 2019 excluding SITC 79 (Other transport equipment, including aircraft) was €6,421 million, an increase of €65 million (+1%) when compared with the corresponding October 2018 figure of €6,356 million.

Exports and imports with Great Britain increase in October

Exports to Great Britain increased by €120 million (+10%) to €1,323 million in October 2019 compared with October 2018. The main increases were in the exports of Chemicals and related products, and Food and live animals.  Exports to Great Britain accounted for 9% of total exports.

The value of goods exports to Great Britain in the first ten months of 2019 was €11,337 million, a decrease of €191 million (-2%) on the first ten months of 2018.

Imports from Great Britain increased by €95 million (+5%) to €1,828 million in October 2019 compared with October 2018. The main increases were in the imports of Food and live animals and Mineral fuels, lubricants and related products (see Table 5).  Imports from Great Britain were 23% of the value of total imports in October 2019.

The value of goods imports from Great Britain for the period January to October 2019 was €15,289 million, an increase of €246 million (+2%) on January to October 2018.

Geographic breakdown of goods exports and imports

The EU accounted for €7,159 million (50%) of total goods exports in October 2019 of which €1,830 million went to Belgium, €1,576 went to Germany and €724 million was exported to the Netherlands. Total EU exports in October increased by €1,054 million (+17%) compared with October 2018.

The USA was the main non-EU destination accounting for €4,095 million (29%) of total exports in October 2019.

The EU accounted for €5,045 million (64%) of total goods imports in October 2019, which is an increase of €12 million (+0.2%) compared with October 2018.

The USA with €874 million (11%) and China with €501 million (6%) were the main non-EU sources of imports.

*It should be noted that the detailed data described in Paragraph 3 onwards, and the data in Tables 1, 3, 4 and 5 are not seasonally adjusted. Only the data described in the first two paragraphs and in Table 2 are seasonally adjusted.

NOTE on revised data

The CSO has revised the export and import data for Electric current (SITC 35) from October 2018. In October 2018, a new Integrated Single Electricity Market for the EU was introduced, which created difficulties for traders in electricity to collect the data required for Intrastat reporting. CSO has worked closely with Revenue (VIMA) and the companies involved to resolve this issue.

The resulting data revisions show a decrease in both exports and imports of Electric current. However, the trade balance for this product remains largely unaffected. The changes have mainly affected trade data with Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The revised data are incorporated in the September 2019 Goods Exports and Imports release.

This map is © Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. License number 01/05/001.
This map is © Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. License number 01/05/001.
Table 1 Goods Exports and Imports summary analysis
PeriodValue1Volume index2Unit value index2 
ExportsImportsTrade surplusBase year 2010=100
€m€m€mExportsImportsExportsImportsTerms of trade3
2010 90,92448,69542,229 100.0  100.0  100.0  100.0  100.0
201193,19153,03540,155 106.1  110.4  96.6  98.7  97.9
2012 93,50756,17937,328 100.6  120.2  102.2  96.0  106.5
201389,18255,78733,394 101.1  123.5  97.0  92.8  104.6
201492,61662,15830,458 103.8  130.1  98.2  98.1  100.1
2015112,40770,11142,296 115.5  143.6  106.8  100.3  106.5
2016119,29274,23745,055 125.6  158.2  102.7  93.3  110.2
2017122,78582,95639,829 135.8  168.9  99.3  96.1  103.3
2018140,64591,95248,693 156.2  189.2  99.1  99.5  99.6
         
2017Quarter 132,17920,98511,194 137.0  160.2  103.3  98.4  104.9
 Quarter 231,07721,7459,331 134.2  182.1  101.9  95.6  106.7
 Quarter 328,98318,55010,433 129.1  152.0  98.1  94.9  103.4
 Quarter 430,54621,6768,871 141.0  176.8  93.8  95.4  98.2
2018Quarter 133,84320,08813,755 152.3  172.2  97.9  95.9  102.1
 Quarter 235,55621,88013,676 161.5  184.3  96.8  97.6  99.3
 Quarter 334,16323,21410,949 148.2  181.9  101.4  104.0  97.6
 Quarter 437,08326,77010,313 163.2  218.7  100.2  100.3  99.9
2019Quarter 137,58421,69615,888 165.5  191.5  100.3  93.9  106.8
 Quarter 238,57021,68916,881 173.2  193.0  98.2  93.8  104.7
 Quarter 337,57220,49917,073 170.1  183.7  97.4  93.0  104.7
         
2017January9,9077,1982,708 122.8  144.7  106.4  98.9  107.6
 February10,2356,5343,702 135.1  158.7  99.6  98.3  101.3
March12,0377,2534,784 153.0  177.2  103.9  98.1  105.8
April9,8636,8523,011 122.6  167.2  106.2  98.0  108.4
May10,5617,6202,941 139.3  193.4  100.0  94.7  105.7
June10,6537,2743,379 140.6  185.6  99.6  94.0  106.0
July9,1785,6863,492 117.4  140.2  103.2  95.1  108.5
August9,6176,3293,288 126.1  153.9  98.2  93.6  104.9
September10,1886,5343,654 143.8  161.8  93.0  96.1  96.8
October9,6457,0362,609 143.2  180.8  88.3  92.5  95.5
November10,8497,4243,425 151.6  187.0  95.0  96.0  98.9
December10,0537,2162,837 128.3  162.7  98.0  97.7  100.3
        
2018January12,1026,5385,565 159.6  168.8  100.1  95.4  104.9
 February10,4016,4233,978 138.1  163.8  99.4  96.7  102.8
 March11,3407,1284,212 159.1  183.9  94.1  95.5  98.5
 April10,9806,6034,377 155.4  160.9  93.4  101.1  92.4
 May11,8106,9244,886 160.1  182.1  97.4  93.7  103.9
 June12,7668,3524,413 168.9  209.9  99.7  98.1  101.7
 July11,0757,7183,357 144.6  179.8  101.1  105.8  95.6
 August11,5387,2464,293 152.9  176.4  99.6  100.9  98.7
 September11,5508,2503,300 147.1  189.4  103.6  105.2  98.4
 October12,2558,9903,265 164.1  216.5  98.6  100.8  97.8
 November12,9568,8694,087 173.5  219.8  98.9  99.6  99.3
 December11,8728,9112,961 152.1  219.9  103.2  100.6  102.5
      
20194January13,4847,5975,886 179.2  204.6  99.3  91.5  108.5
 February12,4126,4445,968 168.2  171.1  97.4  92.9  104.9
 March11,6887,6554,033 149.0  198.7  104.2  97.2  107.1
 April12,8177,2385,579 170.4  200.7  99.9  93.0  107.4
 May13,6927,1826,511 182.2  188.8  99.2  93.7  105.8
 June12,0617,2694,792 166.9  189.4  95.4  94.7  100.8
 July13,3657,0026,363 181.2  194.8  97.8  92.5  105.8
 August11,7286,4935,235 157.3  177.0  98.4  90.4  108.8
 September12,4807,0045,475 171.8  179.4  95.9  96.2  99.6
October14,2167,9276,289 195.3  217.5  96.1  89.8  107.0
1 Trade statistics revised since 2000, see background notes.
2 Monthly data have been rescaled to make their average equal to the annual.
3 Export unit value index divided by Import unit value index.
4 Revised. October 2019 is based on current Intrastat response levels. See background notes.
Table 2 Goods Exports and Imports seasonally adjusted1 series
PeriodValueVolume index
ExportsImportsTrade surplusBase year 2010=100
€m€m€mExportsImports
2017Quarter 132,98320,42812,555 137.6  154.3
 Quarter 230,27022,0488,222 131.1  186.1
 Quarter 329,33219,4989,835 131.4  162.1
 Quarter 430,54421,2149,329 142.2  170.7
2018Quarter 133,99020,31313,677 150.7  170.2
 Quarter 234,69821,77212,926 158.6  184.0
 Quarter 335,04124,51010,531 152.9  195.3
 Quarter 437,21225,49611,716 164.2  208.8
2019Quarter 137,52021,83015,690 165.3  192.7
 Quarter 237,60221,52316,079 168.2  190.7
 Quarter 338,72821,58217,147 176.8  194.6
      
2017January10,7777,0463,731 129.5  140.8
 February11,1627,0234,138 141.8  168.3
 March11,0446,3594,685 141.4  153.9
 April9,8607,4052,454 124.0  181.5
 May10,5597,4563,104 136.6  192.1
 June9,8527,1882,664 132.7  184.7
 July9,7296,0493,680 124.5  151.1
 August9,6906,6643,026 126.4  163.3
 September9,9146,7863,129 143.3  172.0
 October9,8396,7783,061 141.9  172.4
 November9,9626,9792,982 140.5  172.9
 December10,7437,4573,286 144.3  166.7
       
2018January12,5146,9335,581 162.2  172.9
 February11,0146,9934,021 143.5  175.7
 March10,4626,3874,075 146.4  162.0
 April11,1296,8864,244 161.2  170.4
 May11,7726,5705,201 157.2  176.3
 June11,7988,3163,481 157.3  205.3
 July11,9038,0063,897 157.3  188.8
 August11,4317,8353,596 152.1  195.3
 September11,7078,6693,038 149.3  201.9
 October12,2498,3793,870 157.7  199.2
 November12,0738,1343,939 163.4  203.8
 December12,8908,9833,907 171.5  223.4
       
2019January13,6077,5196,088 180.8  210.1
 February13,0087,0215,987 177.2  180.8
 March10,9047,2903,614 137.8  187.1
 April12,7547,3365,419 169.7  204.3
 May13,3577,0606,297 176.0  183.3
 June11,4917,1284,363 159.0  184.6
 July13,8677,1196,748 190.3  198.4
 August12,0387,3884,650 162.2  199.4
 September12,8237,0755,749 178.0  186.1
October14,2727,4496,824 187.5  199.4
1 Based on seasonal patterns up to December 2018. Accordingly all values in this table may have been revised.
Table 3 Goods Exports and Imports classified by commodity1
€million
SITC (Rev 4)ExportsImports
OctOctJan-OctJan-OctOctOctJan-OctJan-Oct
20182019201820192018201920182019
0Food and live animals9451,1189,1719,7597728166,4316,486
00Live animals other than animals of Division 036311828533361105152217
01Meat and meat preparations3343393,2303,1699295850837
02Dairy products and birds' eggs1932782,1652,5826474711722
03Fish, crustaceans, molluscs and preparations thereof43444744992626240249
04Cereals and cereal preparations45513584471301161,0471,095
05Vegetables and fruit23282732641131121,1191,114
06Sugars, sugar preparations and honey12131251243338307318
07Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manufactures thereof37363243486974505551
08Feeding stuff for animals (excluding unmilled cereals)3234282306120102874757
09Miscellaneous edible products and preparations1621781,6551,6886374626627
1Beverages and tobacco1451571,1611,3759495743813
11Beverages 1451571,1601,3758793700768
12Tobacco and tobacco manufactures0010724345
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels1691411,6231,4439085777854
21Hides, skins and furskins, raw9589600000
22Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits 00711222624
23Crude rubber (including synthetic and reclaimed) 00111199
24Cork and wood16141441512018155181
25Pulp and waste paper645242533951
26Textile fibres and their wastes1211111110111113
27Crude fertilisers and minerals (excluding coal, petroleum and precious stones)13161251491915142155
28Metalliferous ores and metal scrap101819868202424208216
29Crude animal and vegetable materials nes119109991621188205
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials111889397196494804,9044,499
32Coal, coke and briquettes89899221616351
33Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials95736685695103873,7333,556
34Gas, natural and manufactured1118910280871782
35Electric current7516548178136110
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes5555552222220219
41Animal oils and fats454546121413
42Fixed vegetable fats and oils11881918189186
43Animal or vegetable fats and oils, processed; waxes0011121719
5Chemicals and related products7,3638,83771,67079,0761,4671,47417,48214,027
51Organic chemicals1,9062,70521,63525,2323623692,8223,669
52Inorganic chemicals10321592183329282272
53Dyeing, tanning and colouring materials11101171072122208208
54Medical and pharmaceutical products4,4145,01639,13142,54767464310,4186,065
55Essential oils; perfume materials; toilet and cleansing preparations6136386,5116,6501241511,1211,157
56Fertilisers (other than those of Division 27)0110102719398370
57Plastics in primary forms44353793838584842804
58Plastics in non-primary forms40464074356269567647
59Chemical materials and products nes3253553,3213,4967988824835
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material2092191,9751,9665035214,5164,997
61Leather; leather manufactures nes; dressed furskins442728221616
62Rubber manufactures nes91079892731277311
63Cork and wood manufactures (excluding furniture)26282622522834247285
64Paper, paperboard and articles thereof15201361538593756850
65Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related products14171351334747429458
66Non-metallic mineral manufactures nes45434023936164501552
67Iron and steel17191551637582689788
68Non-ferrous metals10121001205044491492
69Manufactures of metals nes70666806371281231,1111,244
7Machinery and transport equipment1,7822,12915,17818,9924,3383,32330,07430,514
71Power generating machinery and equipment671177347581041447891,156
72Machinery specialised for particular industries59536475991971311,5851,374
73Metalworking machinery3326231614120116
74General industrial machinery and equipment nes and parts nes1701821,5931,7081751601,5211,556
75Office machines and automatic data processing machines (including computers)3954683,4884,0785174223,6894,265
76Telecommunications and sound equipment105841,0371,1621862831,4771,704
77Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances nes and parts4848294,2306,8132674122,2902,816
78Road vehicles (including air-cushion vehicles)32352823032412522,8042,825
79Other transport equipment (including aircraft)4683593,1413,5482,6341,50615,79914,702
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles1,3941,41113,08413,6588739527,1427,742
81Prefab buildings; plumbing and electrical fixtures and fittings18111271093231240262
82Furniture and parts thereof; bedding, cushions etc18211621794954448489
83Travel goods, handbags and similar containers2320311214120131
84Articles of apparel; clothing accessories25251811931971951,5921,666
85Footwear4432313839350391
87Professional, scientific and controlling apparatus nes5655715,2395,6881671751,5251,586
88Photographic apparatus; optical goods; watches and clocks1161261,1421,1983742341361
89Miscellaneous manufactured articles nes6466496,1816,2283424012,5262,857
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere35333813152826385268
Unclassified estimates296785815851541341,4961,392
           
Total12,25514,216115,817127,9438,9907,92774,17171,811
1 Trade statistics revised since 2000. October 2019 is based on current Intrastat response levels. See background notes.
2 Estimates for which a commodity classification is not available.
Table 4 Goods Exports and Imports classified by country1
€million
CountryExportsImports
OctOctJan-OctJan-OctOctOctJan-OctJan-Oct
20182019201820192018201920182019
Austria30313593352823272269
Belgium1,1861,83014,79313,8592091451,4091,369
Bulgaria9986115854133
Croatia454049111014
Cyprus22203600213
Czech Republic70384914838556581517
Denmark60626175564243425424
Estonia211816121619
Finland21222482291213125158
France5164574,5734,5311,4461,3769,0419,133
Germany9621,5768,73311,2756236169,3796,069
Great Britain1,2031,32311,52811,3371,7331,82815,04215,289
Greece2788430611736057
Hungary 2937273280916323157
Italy 4802513,0343,2901241611,3541,162
Latvia1577363444038
Lithuania232729679094
Luxembourg9713368235732
Malta431193311912
Netherlands7207246,4537,3272682862,5322,595
Northern Ireland2001891,7011,8221451281,2541,308
Poland1251038949667568546681
Portugal42373653501829172234
Romania28292843231277589
Slovakia7106678564345
Slovenia587195232331
Spain2422042,1271,9741211121,2321,133
Sweden95737667733672571578
EU country not specified21230110330830275691
Total EU6,1057,15958,43261,2355,0335,04545,02042,233
  of which United Kingdom1,4031,51213,22913,1581,8781,95616,29616,597
Euro-Zone34,2705,26141,64144,1992,8782,79225,87622,453
        
Australia767472063415128983
Brazil34492642703125191190
Canada1321331,1991,2594524446476
China45018384,1587,3505625014,3924,337
India24422723644948485531
Japan2551552,8142,3881421061,239982
Malaysia191917117345195333913
Mexico1091291,1791,2522936286306
Norway412130019512078863489
Russia47614445424821483335
Saudi Arabia41354635351186
Singapore50645754655626399243
South Africa2733234349101098105
South Korea6747524447102100647729
Switzerland4465975,4194,7291211955991,702
Taiwan26272773254055290431
Thailand12501181414643361358
Turkey32364905526146453547
USA3,6344,09532,89439,0961,74187413,17411,611
Other countries3393993,2883,7962672452,0362,365
Country unknown52361541,5821,8454252412,2792,838
Total Non-EU6,1507,05757,38566,7083,9572,88229,15129,578
         
Total12,25514,216115,817127,9438,9907,92774,17171,811
1 Trade statistics revised since 2000. October 2019 is based on current Intrastat response levels. See background notes.
2 Includes estimates for traders below the Intrastat threshold and transactions where the EU country was not specified.
3 Euro-zone members from January 2015: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
4 China includes Hong Kong and Macao.
5 Trade for which the country of origin or country of final destination is unknown.
Table 5 Goods Exports and Imports classified by commodity and principal countries1
€million
  ExportsImports
Country by Section level of SITCOctOctJan-OctJan-OctOctOctJan-OctJan-Oct
20182019201820192018201920182019
Great Britain1,2031,32311,52811,3371,7331,82815,04215,289
0Food and live animals3844473,3133,2953173872,6012,727
1Beverages and tobacco21211721853234252298
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels33353693421718171186
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials59124302932722942,5092,136
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes111412343534
5Chemicals and related products2873973,3703,4012282442,2532,110
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material91908568161831991,6451,819
7Machinery and transport equipment1581881,6621,7203633682,7913,362
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles1231061,0321,0222332201,8721,896
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere45263092498460913723
Other EU24,9025,83646,90449,8983,3003,21829,97826,945
0Food and live animals3423863,6773,9142982962,6932,622
1Beverages and tobacco44493453984840366378
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels89828847763629273306
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials38242351399395751845
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes4438371414141138
5Chemicals and related products3,0534,07630,50833,3295465119,4565,054
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material84898027881771811,6201,757
7Machinery and transport equipment6695395,2815,1451,8381,76312,41713,472
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles5215294,7404,9681792121,5391,676
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere58583944047277722698
USA3,6344,09532,89439,0961,74187413,17411,611
0Food and live animals33302653364143225210
1Beverages and tobacco5664481608211514
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels333124554250
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials001041379540332933
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes-0000011
5Chemicals and related products2,7813,04424,11429,2783313212,8653,116
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material18151471503640346357
7Machinery and transport equipment2453942,8803,2441,0992818,2045,702
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles4955424,8245,2751221311,0301,124
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere5448451111114105
China35018384,1587,3505625014,3924,337
0Food and live animals8083624715563746
1Beverages and tobacco01270001
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels534635433227
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials005110000
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes00140000
5Chemicals and related products1501271,2731,3252526518330
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material2235205148405453
7Machinery and transport equipment2215741,6224,7753022492,1242,160
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles44475044691681641,2181,263
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere0000755757
Rest of World2,0142,12520,33420,2621,6551,50711,58513,629
0Food and live animals1061721,2921,49911283876882
1Beverages and tobacco23221611781220110124
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels38182922662830260285
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials1453118149190521,311584
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes0022434346
5Chemicals and related products1,0931,19212,40511,7433383722,3903,418
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material14231351915753499612
7Machinery and transport equipment4904333,7334,1097366624,5385,819
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles2121871,9841,9241712251,4831,783
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere2423211201867577
         
Total12,25514,216115,817127,9438,9907,92774,17171,811
1 Trade statistics revised since 2000. October 2019 is based on current Intrastat response levels. See background notes.
2 Includes estimates for traders below the Intrastat threshold and transactions where the EU country was not specified.
3 China includes Hong Kong and Macao.

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 to the Trade in Goods statistics

Since May 2015, significant revisions were incorporated into International Trade in Goods statistics. While the most significant revision is due to recording trade in aircraft on a "transfer of economic ownership" basis, other revisions were incorporated into the Trade data back to 2000. 

Along with the aircraft revisions Goods Exports revisions also include upward revisions due to revaluing some products that had previously been recorded on a “transfer of economic ownership” basis, which was not in line with goods statistics methodology. Also Goods Imports revisions include downward revisions due to a change in the estimation methodology for non-response.

The technical note gives more detail on the revised trade in aircraft methodology and explains the impact the revisions will have on Trade in Goods, National Accounts and Balance of Payments.

Standard 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 (September 2019 in this publication), -4 (June 2019) and -8 (February 2019) are revised. Following the move to a "transfer of economic ownership" basis for recording exports and imports of aircraft, SITC 79 figures are subject to revision on the incorporation of transactions from quarterly Balance of Payments (BoP) surveys. Such revisions will generally be incorporated into Goods Exports and Imports releases that coincide with quarterly BoP publications, i.e. when initial results are published for January, April, July and October.

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 5,200 while around 2,200 must make a detailed export return. The response rate in terms of number of traders in October 2019 was 70%, covering an estimated 94% of the total value of intra-EU trade (these response rates will have increased by the next time data for October 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.

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.

The unit value index series has been rebased to 2010 from 1990. In the course of this rebasing, a detailed examination of the series was undertaken. This exercise has produced a number of modifications enabling production of a more robust series.

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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