In 2023, almost half (46%) of enterprises in Ireland purchased goods/materials from abroad of which the majority were raw materials that were used in own production process (19%) and machinery and other technical equipment used by own company (19%).
Almost four in ten (38%) enterprises purchased goods/materials from other EU Member States (EU27, excluding Ireland), while 41% sourced their purchases from outside the EU.
Almost a quarter (24%) of enterprises in Ireland indicated that they supplied good/materials to enterprises abroad and 25% supplied services abroad.
Cost reductions were a strong motivator for international outsourcing, with 68% of enterprises being motivated by a reduction of labour costs while 62% were motivated by reduction in costs other than labour costs.
Environmental policy related factors were a very high or moderate motivator for 29% of enterprises carrying out or considering carrying out international sourcing.
Legal or administrative barriers were considered a very high or moderate barrier to carrying out international sourcing by 63% of enterprises.
Limitations and constraints related to COVID-19 were identified as the most significant challenge to global supply and value chains between 2021 and 2023, with 58% of enterprises indicating that these had very high or moderate effect.
Environmental policies (33%) and the digitalisation of processes (31%) were very high or moderate constraints on Global Value Chains between 2021 and 2023.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today issued results on Global Value Chains (GVC) covering results for the 2021 – 2023 period. In a highly globalised economy, enterprises increasingly organise the production process into smaller activities located across different countries to bring goods and services to market. The results of this release provide users with relevant statistical information on these GVC arrangements.
In 2023, almost half (46%) of enterprises purchased good/materials from abroad, while 24% of enterprises supplied goods/materials abroad. More than a third (36%) purchased services from abroad, and one-quarter (25%) provided services to customers outside of Ireland.
| Enterprises engaged in Global Value Chain arrangements by sector, 2023 | |||||
| % of enterprises | |||||
| Industry and Construction | Services | Total | |||
| % | % | % | |||
| Purchased goods/materials from enterprises abroad | 80 | 36 | 46 | ||
| Supplied goods/materials to enterprises abroad | 63 | 12 | 24 | ||
| Purchased services from enterprises abroad | 40 | 35 | 36 | ||
| Supplied services to enterprises abroad | 18 | 27 | 25 | ||
In 2023, eight in ten of combined Industry and Construction sector enterprises purchased goods/materials from abroad, while almost two thirds (63%) supplied goods/materials abroad. Industry and Construction sectors combined also had the highest proportion (40%) of firms purchasing services from abroad, while more than one quarter (27%) of enterprises in the business Services sector supplied services abroad in 2023.
| X-axis label | Purchased goods/materials from enterprises abroad | Supplied goods/materials to enterprises abroad | Purchased services from enterprises abroad | Supplied services to enterprises abroad |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industry and Construction | 80 | 63 | 40 | 18 |
| Services | 36 | 12 | 35 | 27 |
| Total | 46 | 24 | 36 | 25 |
More than four in ten (41%) enterprises purchased goods/materials from outside the EU member states, while 38% sourced their purchases from other EU Member States (EU27, excluding Ireland). A similar proportion (37%) of enterprises purchased goods/materials from European countries outside of the EU, while just under one quarter (23%) purchased them from the rest of the world (excluding Europe).
Machinery and other technical equipment used by enterprises, along with raw materials for their production processes, were the most frequently purchased goods/materials by businesses, both at close to one-fifth (19%). Products designed by the enterprise for resale on domestic or foreign markets (7%) were the least reported type of purchase.
More than a quarter (28%) of enterprises indicated that they purchased services from the European Union (EU27, excluding Ireland), while 27% purchased services from European countries outside of the EU.
ICT services (20%), administrative and management functions (13%), and other support functions (13%) were the most commonly purchased service types from enterprises abroad, while research and development (5%) was the least frequently reported.
Almost a quarter (24%) of enterprises in Ireland indicated that they supplied goods/materials to enterprises abroad, the highest of which being final goods designed by the company for resale (13%).
Machinery and other technical equipment used by own customers abroad (2%) and other goods/materials (2%), were the lowest proportion of goods/materials supplied abroad.
More than one-fifth (22%) of goods/materials were exported to countries outside EU member states, while 18% were destined for EU member states.
More enterprises (22%) indicated that they supplied services to countries outside of the EU member states than to EU member states, at 18%.
Other support functions (9%), ICT services (6%), and engineering and related technical services (6%) were the most common services supplied abroad. The least reported services supplied to enterprises overseas, each at 3%, were research and development, marketing, sales and aftersales services, and distribution and logistics.
Enterprises were asked to assess the importance of various motivating factors influencing their decision to engage in international outsourcing between the beginning of 2021 and the end of 2023.
Among enterprises that carried out or considered international sourcing in 2023, 81% reported that strategic decisions made by the group head were a very high or moderate influencing factor.
Enterprises were also motivated by cost reductions. In particular, reductions in labour costs were considered a very high or moderate factor by 68% of enterprises, compared with 62% who cited reductions in other non-labour related costs.
Sanctions on Russia were not viewed as a significant motivating factor by most enterprises that carried out or considered carrying out international sourcing, with 16% reporting them as a very high or moderate factor of importance which was the lowest share in the series. Similarly, COVID-19 related effects were not seen as a very high or moderate motivator, influencing 18% of enterprises.
One in four (25%) reported that less regulations were a very high or moderate motivating factor in decisions to carry out international sourcing. Similarly, environmental policy related factors were a very high or moderate motivator for 29% of enterprises.
Enterprises were asked to assess the importance of barriers when considering or carrying out international outsourcing in the period from the beginning of 2021 to the end of 2023.
Almost two thirds of enterprises that undertook or considered undertaking international sourcing in 2023 reported that legal or administrative barriers (63%) and uncertainty of the quality of products/services to be supplied abroad (62%) were factors of very high or moderate importance.
More than half of these enterprises reported that taxation issues (56%), concerns of the sourcing operation failing to deliver expected benefits (55%), and the lack of qualified labour abroad (54%) represented barriers of very high or moderate significance in conducting international sourcing in 2023.
Sanctions on Russia were not seen as a significant barrier to carrying out international sourcing with 17% of enterprises reporting a very high or moderate importance.
More than a third of enterprises (37%) reported environmental policy related factors as a very high or moderate barrier to carrying out international sourcing.
More than one-quarter of enterprises indicated that linguistic or cultural barriers (28%), COVID-19 related concerns and issues (27%), proximity to existing client (26%), and access to finance or other financial constraints (25%) did not pose barriers to international sourcing.
Enterprises were asked how important various constraints were for the organisation of their global supply and value chains from the beginning of 2021 to the end of 2023. Limitations and constraints related to COVID-19 was the largest constraint on global supply and value chains between 2021 and 2023, with 58% of enterprises indicating that it had a very high or moderate importance.
More than one in three enterprises noted constraints related to environmental policies (33%) and increased digitalisation of the processes within the global value chain (31%) had very high or moderate impacts on their global value chains. Meanwhile, 24% reported that sanctions on Russia posed a very high or moderate constraint on the organisation of their global supply or value chains.
| X-axis label | Very high or moderate | No importance |
|---|---|---|
| Supply shortages in existing supply chains of raw materials, intermediate and final goods and services | 40 | 15 |
| Increased costs of raw materials in connection with energy supply | 51 | 6 |
| Problems with transportation capacity, extended transport time or transport costs from already existing locations to markets | 40 | 15 |
| Increased costs of raw materials, intermediate and final goods in existing supply chains other than those in connection with energy | 51 | 7 |
| Sanctions on Russia | 24 | 24 |
| Limitations and constraints related to COVID-19 | 58 | 15 |
| Constraints related to environmental policies | 33 | 32 |
| Found new suppliers or buyers within the EU | 30 | 32 |
| Found new suppliers or buyers outside of the EU | 18 | 37 |
| Reduced the number of suppliers or orders from other suppliers | 23 | 39 |
| Increased the number of suppliers from countries where we already have suppliers | 16 | 42 |
| Returned business functions previously sourced abroad back to our home market but to another enterprise | 6 | 34 |
| Returned business functions previously sourced abroad back to our own enterprise | 5 | 35 |
| Increased the digitalisation of the processes within the global value chain | 31 | 30 |
| Increased the stocks/inventory | 25 | 31 |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (11 November 2025) published the results of the 2023 Global Value Chains (GVC) survey.
Commenting on the release, Aran Burns, Statistician in the Enterprise Statistics Division said: “The results of this survey illustrate the role of enterprises in Ireland in Global Value Chains. In 2023, 46% of enterprises (with 50 or more persons engaged) in Ireland purchased goods/materials from abroad, while 24% supplied goods/materials to enterprises overseas.
The largest share of goods/materials purchased by enterprises in Ireland between 2021 and 2023 were raw materials that were used in own production process (19%) and machinery and other technical equipment used by own company (19%), while the greatest share of goods/materials supplied abroad were final goods designed by own company for resale (13%) and final goods designed by another company for resale (6%).
Almost four in ten (38%) enterprises purchased goods/materials from other EU Member States (EU27, excluding Ireland), while 41% sourced their purchases from outside the EU.
Enterprises were also asked to evaluate the importance of various motivating factors influencing their decision to engage in international outsourcing between early 2021 and the end of 2023. Among those enterprises that carried out or considered carrying out international sourcing in 2023, 81% reported that strategic decisions made by the group head was a very high or moderate influence. In contrast, sanctions on Russia were not considered a significant factor by most enterprises, with 16% rating them as very high or moderately important. Similarly, COVID-19 related effects were a smaller motivator, influencing 18% of enterprises as very important when carrying out or considering international sourcing between 2021 and 2023.
However, limitations and constraints related to COVID-19 were identified as the most significant challenge to overall global supply and value chains between 2021 and 2023, with 58% of enterprises indicating that these had very high or moderate importance.”