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Trade by Type of Trader

Trade by Type of Trader

80% of importers did not export goods in 2022

Online ISSN: 2712-0295
CSO statistical publication, , 11am

Trade by type of trader identifies whether enterprises are only importers of goods, only exporters of goods, or if they both export and import goods.

Almost 99% of the total value of exports is by exporters who also import goods (two-way traders). The value of exports by two-way traders in 2022 was €196.8 billion. There were 10,138 of these traders, while 1,631 traders were exporters only, accounting for a value of €2.4 billion.

Table 3.1 Goods Exports by Type of Trader 2022

X-axis labelExporter & ImporterExporter Only
Industry174159377056745361169
Wholesale & Retail13836702708905829512
Other Activities8813337272777689107
X-axis labelExporter & ImporterExporter Only
Industry2736297
Wholesale & Retail4386581
Other Activities3016753

On the import side, there are a significantly higher share of enterprises who are importers only. Of the 49,517 enterprises who imported more than €1,000 of goods in 2022, 39,379 were importers only, and did not export any goods. There were 10,138 importers who were two-way traders.

Importers who were two-way traders accounted for almost €115 billion of imports, while those who import only imported €19.8 billion.

Table 3.2 Goods Imports by Type of Trader 2022

X-axis labelImporter & ExporterImporter Only
Industry597773815563493072870
Wholesale & Retail3266435431410471318778
Other Activities224848086445855483360
X-axis labelImporter & ExporterImporter Only
Industry27364386
Wholesale & Retail438615506
Other Activities301619487