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Quarterly National Accounts Quarter 4 2020

International Trade

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Year 2020 Analysis

Exports grew 6.2% during the year while Imports decreased by 11.3%

Table 4.1 Exports and Imports of Goods and Services, 2020¹
	Amount €m	Annual % change
Exports of Goods and Services	469,548	6.2
Imports of Goods and Services	360,585	-11.3
Net Exports of Goods and Services	108,963
¹Constant Market Prices, chain linked annually and referenced to year 2018.

Open in Excel: Quarterly National Accounts Q4 2020 Table 4.1 (XLS 10KB)

Exports grew 6.2% during the year while Imports decreased by 11.3%, driven to a considerable extent by a fall in IPP investment compared with 2019. Overall net exports for the year increased by €73.4 billion.

	Exports	Imports	Net Exports
2014	227.1709408759	185.4816961651	41.6892447108
2015	316.3304373966	245.6606807282	70.6697566684
2016	329.4789915757	291.994659288	37.4843322876999
2017	359.873309611	295.276267556	64.597042055
2018	399.897476034	307.110024613	92.787451421
2019	442.0844299245	406.5441214223	35.5403085022
2020	469.5476358131	360.5845625748	108.9630732383

Quarter 4 2020 Analysis

Imports increased by 24.4% in Q4 2020

Table 4.2 Exports and Imports, Q4 2020¹
	Amount €m	Quarterly % change
Exports of Goods	66,667	0.5
Exports of Services	57,545	8.8
Imports of Goods	27,526	4.5
Imports of Services	67,140	34.9
Net Exports	29,547
¹Constant Market Prices, chain linked annually and referenced to year 2018 and seasonally adjusted.

Open in Excel: Quarterly National Accounts Q4 2020 Table 4.2 (XLS 9KB)

Imports increased by 24.4% in Q4 2020 compared with Q3 2020 while Exports increased by 4.2% which meant that overall net exports for the quarter were 31.5% lower in Q4 compared with Q3 or €13.6 billion lower in money terms quarter-on-quarter. See International Accounts for more detail on current price data.

	Exports (Goods)	Exports (Services)	Imports (Goods)	Imports (Services)	Net Exports
Q1 2018	49.23781703	44.523268607	-23.041601457	-42.903869488	27.815614692
Q2 2018	53.884424151	46.297471698	-25.048967351	-44.857627037	30.275301461
Q3 2018	52.70111334	48.394717083	-26.081939402	-48.196805889	26.817085132
Q4 2018	55.524363435	48.548948077	-27.75726128	-66.22698211	10.089068122
Q1 2019	56.307173751	50.115592839	-26.86248251	-51.370523923	28.189760157
Q2 2019	56.142293286	54.04684146	-27.588864532	-90.989293725	-8.38902351099999
Q3 2019	57.718074871	54.56821958	-28.558888913	-56.356008086	27.371397452
Q4 2019	58.486814333	54.025224017	-28.176739156	-91.5150231	-7.17972390599999
Q1 2020	60.986573793	53.046824167	-26.79680696	-89.313518289	-2.076927289
Q2 2020	61.509100292	49.700207096	-23.879946875	-50.628214715	36.701145798
Q3 2020	66.339525434	52.874580773	-26.33480616	-49.765495584	43.113804463
Q4 2020	66.667178342	57.545215679	-27.525995652	-67.139862343	29.546536026

Table 4.3 Trade Summary: Quarterly Breakdown of Trade into Goods/Services at Current and Constant Prices¹

Table 4.3 Trade Summary: Quarterly Breakdown of Trade into Goods/Services at Current and Constant Prices¹
	TRADE AT CURRENT PRICES						TRADE AT CONSTANT PRICES
	Exports			Imports			Exports			Imports		€million
Period	Total	Goods	Services	Total	Goods	Services	Total	Goods	Services	Total	Goods	Services
2014
Q1	47,722	26,187	21,535	40,603	17,248	23,354	51,076	27,209	23,720	42,364	17,721	24,551
Q2	53,683	28,902	24,782	43,846	17,616	26,230	57,253	29,411	27,808	46,008	18,395	27,502
Q3	55,610	29,272	26,338	44,474	18,287	26,187	59,028	29,479	29,617	45,826	18,330	27,386
Q4	57,334	30,100	27,234	50,241	20,579	29,662	59,813	29,601	30,314	51,284	20,309	30,849
	214,350	114,460	99,889	179,164	73,730	105,434	227,171	115,700	111,460	185,482	74,756	110,287
2015
Q1	74,441	47,465	26,976	53,445	20,675	32,770	73,932	44,431	28,793	54,172	20,756	33,321
Q2	78,174	48,150	30,024	59,304	21,256	38,048	76,821	43,543	32,814	58,881	20,388	38,459
Q3	81,927	50,890	31,037	59,603	21,134	38,468	81,014	47,138	33,261	59,709	20,712	38,962
Q4	86,023	53,822	32,201	72,534	23,868	48,667	84,564	49,022	34,919	72,899	24,695	48,180
	320,565	200,327	120,238	244,886	86,933	157,953	316,330	184,134	129,788	245,661	86,552	158,922
2016
Q1	78,730	48,495	30,235	66,004	21,205	44,798	78,743	46,790	31,187	68,587	23,452	45,090
Q2	80,086	47,648	32,439	72,531	23,207	49,324	81,232	45,811	35,059	74,177	24,249	49,892
Q3	82,459	46,899	35,561	68,438	20,584	47,854	82,676	44,762	37,870	69,766	21,648	48,096
Q4	86,960	50,118	36,841	78,909	22,076	56,833	86,828	46,829	39,985	79,464	23,028	56,428
	328,235	193,160	135,076	285,882	87,072	198,810	329,479	184,193	144,102	291,995	92,378	199,505
2017
Q1	84,294	47,901	36,393	62,545	22,714	39,831	82,627	44,760	37,740	62,138	22,827	39,459
Q2	86,740	47,323	39,417	100,937	22,777	78,160	85,764	44,346	41,537	101,287	23,595	77,196
Q3	88,932	48,977	39,955	60,009	20,314	39,695	89,384	47,393	41,976	60,293	20,939	39,431
Q4	99,689	53,623	46,066	70,537	22,900	47,637	102,098	53,837	48,279	71,558	23,732	47,858
	359,655	197,824	161,831	294,028	88,706	205,322	359,873	190,336	169,532	295,276	91,094	203,945
2018
Q1	91,733	50,317	41,416	62,712	21,905	40,807	90,173	49,403	40,617	62,779	22,734	40,105
Q2	98,371	52,513	45,858	70,344	24,469	45,875	98,429	52,257	46,153	70,245	25,082	45,218
Q3	100,571	52,634	47,937	72,034	25,376	46,659	100,174	52,231	48,008	70,206	24,392	45,846
Q4	109,223	55,980	53,243	102,020	30,562	71,458	111,122	57,552	53,676	103,880	30,104	73,629
	399,897	211,443	188,454	307,110	102,312	204,798	399,897	211,443	188,454	307,110	102,312	204,798
2019
Q1	104,779	56,499	48,280	74,635	26,275	48,360	102,086	56,571	45,514	73,967	26,376	47,591
Q2	109,212	54,444	54,768	120,044	26,344	93,700	107,938	54,236	53,702	119,265	27,403	91,862
Q3	113,129	57,406	55,723	80,529	25,802	54,728	110,983	57,302	53,681	80,331	26,722	53,609
Q4	121,747	59,148	62,599	129,868	29,951	99,917	121,078	60,602	60,476	132,981	30,856	102,125
	448,866	227,496	221,370	405,076	108,371	296,704	442,084	228,712	213,372	406,544	111,357	295,187
2020
Q1	112,164	59,452	52,712	105,911	25,043	80,868	109,539	61,378	48,161	108,534	26,257	82,277
Q2	107,734	55,997	51,737	75,147	22,622	52,525	108,278	59,224	49,055	74,755	23,509	51,246
Q3	114,121	60,263	53,858	71,731	23,443	48,288	117,849	66,058	51,791	71,982	24,684	47,299
Q4	133,790	62,101	71,689	105,192	27,942	77,250	133,881	68,965	64,917	105,314	30,353	74,961
	467,808	237,812	229,996	357,981	99,050	258,931	469,548	255,624	213,923	360,585	104,802	255,783

Percentage change on corresponding period of previous year
2014
Q1	8.6	8.5	8.7	10.3	5.1	14.5	11.3	14.6	7.4	8.5	1.1	14.6
Q2	12.4	12.0	12.9	13.3	8.9	16.5	12.3	12.6	12.0	12.1	7.0	15.7
Q3	17.8	16.5	19.2	21.0	19.5	22.0	17.5	15.9	19.4	17.9	12.7	21.6
Q4	21.2	27.2	15.1	25.0	25.9	24.3	17.2	22.4	11.7	19.9	16.0	22.5
2015
Q1	56.0	81.3	25.3	31.6	19.9	40.3	44.7	63.3	21.4	27.9	17.1	35.7
Q2	45.6	66.6	21.2	35.3	20.7	45.1	34.2	48.1	18.0	28.0	10.8	39.8
Q3	47.3	73.9	17.8	34.0	15.6	46.9	37.2	59.9	12.3	30.3	13.0	42.3
Q4	50.0	78.8	18.2	44.4	16.0	64.1	41.4	65.6	15.2	42.1	21.6	56.2
2016
Q1	5.8	2.2	12.1	23.5	2.6	36.7	6.5	5.3	8.3	26.6	13.0	35.3
Q2	2.4	-1.0	8.0	22.3	9.2	29.6	5.7	5.2	6.8	26.0	18.9	29.7
Q3	0.6	-7.8	14.6	14.8	-2.6	24.4	2.1	-5.0	13.9	16.8	4.5	23.4
Q4	1.1	-6.9	14.4	8.8	-7.5	16.8	2.7	-4.5	14.5	9.0	-6.8	17.1
2017
Q1	7.1	-1.2	20.4	-5.2	7.1	-11.1	4.9	-4.3	21.0	-9.4	-2.7	-12.5
Q2	8.3	-0.7	21.5	39.2	-1.9	58.5	5.6	-3.2	18.5	36.5	-2.7	54.7
Q3	7.8	4.4	12.4	-12.3	-1.3	-17.1	8.1	5.9	10.8	-13.6	-3.3	-18.0
Q4	14.6	7.0	25.0	-10.6	3.7	-16.2	17.6	15.0	20.7	-9.9	3.1	-15.2
2018
Q1	8.8	5.0	13.8	0.3	-3.6	2.5	9.1	10.4	7.6	1.0	-0.4	1.6
Q2	13.4	11.0	16.3	-30.3	7.4	-41.3	14.8	17.8	11.1	-30.6	6.3	-41.4
Q3	13.1	7.5	20.0	20.0	24.9	17.5	12.1	10.2	14.4	16.4	16.5	16.3
Q4	9.6	4.4	15.6	44.6	33.5	50.0	8.8	6.9	11.2	45.2	26.8	53.8
2019
Q1	14.2	12.3	16.6	19.0	19.9	18.5	13.2	14.5	12.1	17.8	16.0	18.7
Q2	11.0	3.7	19.4	70.7	7.7	104.3	9.7	3.8	16.4	69.8	9.3	103.2
Q3	12.5	9.1	16.2	11.8	1.7	17.3	10.8	9.7	11.8	14.4	9.6	16.9
Q4	11.5	5.7	17.6	27.3	-2.0	39.8	9.0	5.3	12.7	28.0	2.5	38.7
2020
Q1	7.0	5.2	9.2	41.9	-4.7	67.2	7.3	8.5	5.8	46.7	-0.5	72.9
Q2	-1.4	2.9	-5.5	-37.4	-14.1	-43.9	0.3	9.2	-8.7	-37.3	-14.2	-44.2
Q3	0.9	5.0	-3.3	-10.9	-9.1	-11.8	6.2	15.3	-3.5	-10.4	-7.6	-11.8
Q4	9.9	5.0	14.5	-19.0	-6.7	-22.7	10.6	13.8	7.3	-20.8	-1.6	-26.6
¹Chain linked series not additive

Open in Excel: Quarterly National Accounts Q4 2020 Table 4.3 (XLS 23KB)

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Table 4.4 Seasonally Adjusted (SA) Trade Summary: Quarterly Breakdown of Trade into Goods/Services at SA Current and SA Constant Prices¹

Table 4.4 Seasonally Adjusted (SA) Trade Summary: Quarterly Breakdown of Trade into Goods/Services at SA Current and SA Constant Prices¹
	TRADE AT CURRENT PRICES						TRADE AT CONSTANT PRICES
	Exports			Imports			Exports			Imports		€million
Period	Total	Goods	Services	Total	Goods	Services	Total	Goods	Services	Total	Goods	Services
2014
Q1	49,146	26,336	22,810	41,804	17,109	24,695	52,992	27,177	25,814	43,213	17,461	25,752
Q2	53,485	28,945	24,539	43,371	17,582	25,790	56,643	29,237	27,406	45,125	18,272	26,853
Q3	55,478	29,432	26,046	46,695	19,356	27,338	58,747	29,602	29,145	48,018	19,351	28,667
Q4	55,891	29,604	26,287	47,462	20,042	27,420	58,369	29,524	28,845	48,514	19,614	28,899
	214,000	114,318	99,682	179,332	74,088	105,244	226,750	115,540	111,210	184,870	74,699	110,171
2015
Q1	76,257	47,721	28,536	55,208	20,534	34,674	75,656	44,406	31,250	55,450	20,571	34,879
Q2	78,423	48,582	29,841	58,775	21,271	37,504	76,177	43,667	32,510	57,860	20,219	37,641
Q3	82,047	51,293	30,754	62,325	22,020	40,305	80,323	47,504	32,820	62,984	21,952	41,032
Q4	83,446	52,506	30,940	66,837	22,166	44,671	81,241	48,276	32,965	68,295	23,628	44,667
	320,173	200,103	120,070	243,146	85,992	157,154	313,397	183,852	129,545	244,589	86,370	158,219
2016
Q1	81,805	49,872	31,933	69,251	21,778	47,473	80,545	46,720	33,825	70,747	23,421	47,326
Q2	79,640	47,305	32,335	71,484	22,692	48,792	81,435	46,466	34,969	73,154	24,028	49,126
Q3	82,746	47,277	35,469	71,672	21,370	50,302	82,682	45,168	37,514	73,794	23,046	50,748
Q4	83,717	48,673	35,044	72,941	21,222	51,719	82,976	45,647	37,329	73,431	21,764	51,667
	327,908	193,127	134,780	285,348	87,063	198,285	327,638	184,002	143,636	291,127	92,259	198,867
2017
Q1	86,301	47,840	38,461	65,086	22,706	42,380	85,702	44,644	41,057	64,752	22,996	41,756
Q2	88,041	48,569	39,472	100,466	22,930	77,536	86,916	45,382	41,534	99,787	23,416	76,371
Q3	89,380	49,323	40,057	63,441	21,668	41,773	89,922	47,911	42,012	63,956	22,366	41,590
Q4	95,372	52,005	43,368	64,184	21,122	43,062	96,331	52,050	44,281	65,460	22,150	43,310
	359,095	197,736	161,359	293,178	88,426	204,752	358,871	189,988	168,883	293,955	90,928	203,026
2018
Q1	95,168	51,326	43,843	65,947	22,302	43,645	93,761	49,238	44,523	65,945	23,042	42,904
Q2	98,951	52,850	46,101	69,955	24,420	45,536	100,182	53,884	46,297	69,907	25,049	44,858
Q3	101,265	52,899	48,366	75,909	26,766	49,143	101,096	52,701	48,395	74,279	26,082	48,197
Q4	103,889	54,374	49,515	92,273	27,994	64,279	104,073	55,524	48,549	93,984	27,757	66,227
	399,273	211,449	187,824	304,085	101,482	202,602	399,112	211,348	187,764	304,115	101,930	202,185
2019
Q1	107,348	56,030	51,318	78,686	26,711	51,975	106,423	56,307	50,116	78,233	26,862	51,371
Q2	111,596	56,322	55,275	119,933	26,906	93,027	110,189	56,142	54,047	118,578	27,589	90,989
Q3	113,933	57,583	56,351	84,488	26,907	57,582	112,286	57,718	54,568	84,915	28,559	56,356
Q4	115,401	57,622	57,779	117,347	27,671	89,676	112,512	58,487	54,025	119,692	28,177	91,515
	448,279	227,556	220,723	400,454	108,194	292,260	441,410	228,654	212,756	401,418	111,187	290,231
2020
Q1	114,999	58,803	56,196	112,674	25,413	87,261	114,033	60,987	53,047	116,110	26,797	89,314
Q2	110,356	58,011	52,345	75,359	23,263	52,095	111,209	61,509	49,700	74,508	23,880	50,628
Q3	114,873	60,339	54,534	75,186	24,400	50,786	119,214	66,340	52,875	76,100	26,335	49,765
Q4	126,505	60,638	65,868	93,858	24,601	69,256	124,212	66,667	57,545	94,666	27,526	67,140
	466,733	237,791	228,942	357,076	97,677	259,399	468,669	255,502	213,167	361,385	104,538	256,847

Percentage change on previous quarter
2014
Q1	5.9	12.1	-0.4	9.3	6.6	11.3	5.5	11.4	-0.0	6.3	2.6	8.9
Q2	8.8	9.9	7.6	3.8	2.8	4.4	6.9	7.6	6.2	4.4	4.6	4.3
Q3	3.7	1.7	6.1	7.7	10.1	6.0	3.7	1.2	6.3	6.4	5.9	6.8
Q4	0.7	0.6	0.9	1.6	3.5	0.3	-0.6	-0.3	-1.0	1.0	1.4	0.8
2015
Q1	36.4	61.2	8.6	16.3	2.5	26.5	29.6	50.4	8.3	14.3	4.9	20.7
Q2	2.8	1.8	4.6	6.5	3.6	8.2	0.7	-1.7	4.0	4.3	-1.7	7.9
Q3	4.6	5.6	3.1	6.0	3.5	7.5	5.4	8.8	1.0	8.9	8.6	9.0
Q4	1.7	2.4	0.6	7.2	0.7	10.8	1.1	1.6	0.4	8.4	7.6	8.9
2016
Q1	-2.0	-5.0	3.2	3.6	-1.8	6.3	-0.9	-3.2	2.6	3.6	-0.9	6.0
Q2	-2.6	-5.1	1.3	3.2	4.2	2.8	1.1	-0.5	3.4	3.4	2.6	3.8
Q3	3.9	-0.1	9.7	0.3	-5.8	3.1	1.5	-2.8	7.3	0.9	-4.1	3.3
Q4	1.2	3.0	-1.2	1.8	-0.7	2.8	0.4	1.1	-0.5	-0.5	-5.6	1.8
2017
Q1	3.1	-1.7	9.8	-10.8	7.0	-18.1	3.3	-2.2	10.0	-11.8	5.7	-19.2
Q2	2.0	1.5	2.6	54.4	1.0	83.0	1.4	1.7	1.2	54.1	1.8	82.9
Q3	1.5	1.6	1.5	-36.9	-5.5	-46.1	3.5	5.6	1.2	-35.9	-4.5	-45.5
Q4	6.7	5.4	8.3	1.2	-2.5	3.1	7.1	8.6	5.4	2.4	-1.0	4.1
2018
Q1	-0.2	-1.3	1.1	2.7	5.6	1.4	-2.7	-5.4	0.5	0.7	4.0	-0.9
Q2	4.0	3.0	5.1	6.1	9.5	4.3	6.8	9.4	4.0	6.0	8.7	4.6
Q3	2.3	0.1	4.9	8.5	9.6	7.9	0.9	-2.2	4.5	6.3	4.1	7.4
Q4	2.6	2.8	2.4	21.6	4.6	30.8	2.9	5.4	0.3	26.5	6.4	37.4
2019
Q1	3.3	3.0	3.6	-14.7	-4.6	-19.1	2.3	1.4	3.2	-16.8	-3.2	-22.4
Q2	4.0	0.5	7.7	52.4	0.7	79.0	3.5	-0.3	7.8	51.6	2.7	77.1
Q3	2.1	2.2	1.9	-29.6	0.0	-38.1	1.9	2.8	1.0	-28.4	3.5	-38.1
Q4	1.3	0.1	2.5	38.9	2.8	55.7	0.2	1.3	-1.0	41.0	-1.3	62.4
2020
Q1	-0.3	2.0	-2.7	-4.0	-8.2	-2.7	1.4	4.3	-1.8	-3.0	-4.9	-2.4
Q2	-4.0	-1.3	-6.9	-33.1	-8.5	-40.3	-2.5	0.9	-6.3	-35.8	-10.9	-43.3
Q3	4.1	4.0	4.2	-0.2	4.9	-2.5	7.2	7.9	6.4	2.1	10.3	-1.7
Q4	10.1	0.5	20.8	24.8	0.8	36.4	4.2	0.5	8.8	24.4	4.5	34.9
¹Chain linked series not additive

Open in Excel: Quarterly National Accounts Q4 2020 Table 4.4 (XLS 23KB)

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Quarterly National Accounts Quarter 4 2020

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Year 2020 Analysis

Exports grew 6.2% during the year while Imports decreased by 11.3%

Quarter 4 2020 Analysis

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