Unadjusted goods exports were €17.7 billion, an increase of almost €5.4 billion compared with April 2021.
Unadjusted goods imports were €11.2 billion, which was €3 billion higher than imports in April 2021.
Seasonally adjusted goods exports were €17.9 billion in April 2022, a decrease of €672 million compared with March 2022.
Seasonally adjusted goods imports were €11.6 billion in April 2022.
Imports from Great Britain were nearly €2.1 billion in April 2022, while exports to Great Britain were €1.6 billion.
Seasonally adjusted goods imports increased by €1,346 million (+13%) to €11,601 million in April 2022 compared with March 2022, according to preliminary figures.
Seasonally adjusted goods exports decreased by €672 million (-4%) to €17,874 million leading to a decrease of €2,018 million (-24%) in the seasonally adjusted trade surplus to €6,272 million in April 2022 compared with the previous month (see Table 2). Seasonal adjustment compares month-to-month data by removing fluctuations that may occur due to seasonal patterns in trade.
The (unadjusted)* value of goods exports for April 2022 was €17,680 million representing an increase of €5,391 million (+44%) when compared with April 2021. The value of goods exports for the period January to April 2022 was €70,375 million, an increase of €17,733 million (+34%) when compared with the first four months of 2021.
Exports of Medical and pharmaceutical products increased by €2,620 million (+58%) to €7,164 million in April 2022 compared with April 2021. This represented 41% of total exports.
Exports of Organic chemicals increased by €1,409 million (+84%) to €3,093 million.
Exports of Food and live animals increased by €223 million (+23%) to €1,188 million over the same comparative period.
Exports of Electrical machinery, apparatus, appliances and parts increased by €263 million (+29%) to €1,165 million (see Table 3).
The (unadjusted) value of goods imports for April 2022 was €11,253 million representing an increase of €3,005 million (+36%) when compared with April 2021. The value of goods imports for January to April of 2022 was €40,681 million, which is an increase of €10,126 million (+33%) compared with January to April 2021.
Imports of Mineral fuels, lubricants and related products increased by €947 million (+267%) to €1,302 million in April 2022 compared with April 2021.
Imports of Organic chemicals increased by €399 million (+49%) to €1,218 million over the same comparative period.
Imports of Machinery specialised for particular industries increased by €616 million (+402%) to €769 million (see Table 3).
The value of goods imports for April 2022 excluding SITC 79 (Other transport equipment, including aircraft) was €10,446 million, an increase of €3,190 million (+44%) when compared with the corresponding April 2021 figure of €7,256 million (see Table 3).
Imports from Great Britain increased by €909 million (+78%) to €2,069 million compared with April 2021. The main increases were in the imports of Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials and Chemicals and related products (see Table 5). Imports from Great Britain were 18% of the value of total imports in April 2022.
The value of goods imports from Great Britain for January to April 2022 was €7,290 million, an increase of €3,202 million (+78%) compared with January to April 2021.
Exports to Great Britain in April 2022 were €1,571 million, an increase of €553 million (+54%) compared with April 2021. The main change was an increase in the exports of Chemicals and related products, Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials and Food and live animals (see Table 5). Exports to Great Britain accounted for 9% of total exports in April 2022.
The value of goods exports to Great Britain in the first four months of 2022 was €5,411 million, an increase of €1,351 million (+33%) on the first four months of 2021.
Imports from Northern Ireland in the first four months of 2022 increased by €355 million (+30%) to €1,553 million when compared with the first four months of 2021.
Exports to Northern Ireland were €1,521 million in the period January to April 2022, an increase of €435 million (+40%) on the same period in 2021 (see Table 5).
| % | |
| NI | 2.2005047378491 |
| GB | 8.88666800326348 |
| EU27 | 38.8014143744898 |
| US | 31.0834330343503 |
| Rest of World | 19.0279798500473 |
| % | |
| NI | 3.36393262278084 |
| GB | 18.3822813572142 |
| EU27 | 32.2595416021603 |
| US | 14.950578985966 |
| Rest of World | 31.7436654318787 |
The EU accounted for €6,860 million (39%) of total goods exports in April 2022 of which €2,875 million went to Germany and €1,338 million went to Belgium. Total EU exports in April 2022 increased by €1,953 million (+40%) compared with April 2021.
The USA was the main non-EU destination accounting for €5,496 million (31%) of total exports in April 2022.
The EU accounted for €3,630 million (32%) of total goods imports in April 2022, which is an increase of €812 million (+29%) compared with April 2021.
The UK with €2,447 million (21%), the USA with €1,682 million (15%) and China with €918 million (8%) were the main non-EU sources of imports (see Table 4).
| X-axis label | EU 27 | Rest of World | UK | US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2020 | 4.8180599176017 | 2.62655449500001 | 1.2209073784589 | 3.56454735 |
| Dec 2020 | 6.02161626325908 | 2.6478553 | 1.69502867653897 | 4.553828941 |
| Jan 2021 | 4.50623624117744 | 2.727675256 | 1.16292985708278 | 4.932282209 |
| Feb 2021 | 4.64207099819885 | 2.343243982 | 1.07783908838482 | 4.252122179 |
| Mar 2021 | 5.71069156633018 | 2.899116902 | 1.55585851818113 | 4.542633046 |
| Apr 2021 | 4.90713263466844 | 2.45698396000001 | 1.34918852232651 | 3.57577931 |
| May 2021 | 5.45478810269973 | 2.689996428 | 1.50140088056247 | 3.90149927 |
| Jun 2021 | 5.60214324394904 | 3.112772704 | 1.75320993601654 | 4.281263191 |
| Jul 2021 | 4.52685118279434 | 3.134559757 | 1.79083712755728 | 3.750234214 |
| Aug 2021 | 4.85342560065652 | 2.785794649 | 1.30359655361404 | 4.229442456 |
| Sep 2021 | 5.85619210292483 | 2.793674125 | 1.73716423676024 | 4.384452418 |
| Oct 2021 | 5.12918788059397 | 2.656838563 | 1.40791061856762 | 5.764283375 |
| Nov 2021 | 5.697367815488 | 2.763602682 | 2.0424845765013 | 4.949828165 |
| Dec 2021 | 4.59705359451349 | 2.912657818 | 1.47677077364718 | 3.945519212 |
| Jan 2022 | 6.35097649895916 | 2.823560523 | 1.75472266174465 | 5.372329343 |
| Feb 2022 | 6.31571613814373 | 3.263407124 | 1.38990411889723 | 4.821746929 |
| Mar 2022 | 7.38065398319269 | 4.00438025499999 | 1.82671171323716 | 7.390253392 |
| Apr 2022 | 6.86024903667363 | 3.364224798 | 1.96025756645248 | 5.495678314 |
| X-axis label | EU 27 | Rest of World | UK | US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2020 | 3.4654586999679 | 2.65587162318089 | 2.12367670598949 | 1.09758476189086 |
| Dec 2020 | 3.34781189233554 | 2.04357618851646 | 2.12610105441498 | 1.48609245314246 |
| Jan 2021 | 2.22133359098184 | 2.0256179252737 | 0.95910887825586 | 1.23461466810489 |
| Feb 2021 | 2.2216363060796 | 2.04033558811691 | 1.13696280288407 | 1.24780358320128 |
| Mar 2021 | 3.22380420572407 | 2.68432034898914 | 1.70030859810158 | 1.61071404313418 |
| Apr 2021 | 2.81846802469977 | 2.70676447761457 | 1.48920057588016 | 1.23441473238069 |
| May 2021 | 3.4181288019952 | 2.34016251437405 | 1.55399712735357 | 1.44673599207556 |
| Jun 2021 | 3.68653775830562 | 3.1218809127626 | 1.77837455295666 | 1.30265117268739 |
| Jul 2021 | 2.79174376634401 | 2.20922841169683 | 1.45866757908514 | 1.33649898302701 |
| Aug 2021 | 2.14427927020579 | 2.4721595401711 | 1.62160550665421 | 1.58098693302229 |
| Sep 2021 | 2.54651358962204 | 2.54122398595268 | 1.73850218878597 | 1.63970763048317 |
| Oct 2021 | 2.68628975764719 | 2.78324119638016 | 1.93409010323967 | 1.5903038632994 |
| Nov 2021 | 3.30326769144714 | 3.29941521734655 | 1.90975994963745 | 1.55171638268088 |
| Dec 2021 | 3.31275530200272 | 3.14843526444838 | 2.16326877401528 | 2.17559744508009 |
| Jan 2022 | 2.70099557230142 | 3.25698529616598 | 2.12148056546555 | 1.22087599407626 |
| Feb 2022 | 2.77432301099801 | 2.90721116879513 | 1.91970168995771 | 1.21009613536096 |
| Mar 2022 | 3.10498910412734 | 3.99678127354854 | 2.35461409995145 | 1.85945026236333 |
| Apr 2022 | 3.63029984299983 | 3.49347226111674 | 2.44719153703443 | 1.68245058205893 |
Industrial produce accounted for €16,554 million (94%) of total exports in April 2022. This is an increase of €5,123 million (+45%) when compared with April 2021. There was €6,321 million of this exported to the EU, €5,462 million to the USA and €1,568 million to the UK. Agricultural produce accounted for €903 million (5%) of total exports (see Table 6).
Producer capital goods ready for use accounted for €2,048 million (18%) of total imports in April 2022, an increase of €445 million (+28%) when compared with April 2021.
Consumption goods ready for use represented €2,526 million (22%) of total imports, and Materials for further production accounted for €6,437 million (57%) (see Table 7).
*It should be noted that the detailed data described in Paragraph 3 onwards, and the data in Tables 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are not seasonally adjusted. Only the data described in the first two paragraphs and in Table 2 are seasonally adjusted.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (15 June 2022) released Goods Exports and Imports April 2022.
Commenting on the release, Ciarán Counihan, Statistician, said: “In April 2022, Ireland’s unadjusted exports of goods were €17.7 billion. Imports were valued at €11.2 billion in April.
The increases in goods exports were driven mainly by growth in the exports of Medical and pharmaceutical products and Organic chemicals.
Imports from Great Britain grew by 78% to almost €2.1 billion in April 2022 compared with April 2021, driven mainly by increases in the imports of Mineral fuels and Chemicals and related products.
It should be noted that the large growth rate in imports from Great Britain is partly explained by the relatively low level of imports in April 2021. April 2021 was the fourth month in which customs documentation was required for trade with Great Britain, which impacted on our trade with Great Britain.”