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E-mail: Trade@cso.ie Ciaran.Counihan@cso.ie Damian.Malone@cso.ie
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CSO statistical release, , 11am

Goods Exports and Imports

November 2020

Seasonally adjusted
€ million
 ExportsImportsSurplus
June 202012,9876,3546,634
July 202013,1678,1824,985
August 202014,5286,8087,721
September 202013,5956,2507,345
October 202012,3346,9595,375
November 202014,4498,4545,995

Seasonally adjusted goods exports increased by €2.1 billion in November

Figure 1 Goods Exports and Imports seasonally adjusted
go to full release

Seasonally adjusted goods exports increased by €2,115 million (+17%) to €14,449 million in November 2020 compared with October 2020, according to preliminary figures.

Seasonally adjusted goods imports increased by €1,494 million (+21%) to €8,454 million leading to an increase of €621 million (+12%) in the seasonally adjusted trade surplus to €5,995 million in November 2020 compared with the previous month (see Table 2).

Exports of Medical and pharmaceutical products are almost half of total exports in November 

The (unadjusted)* value of goods exports for November 2020 was €14,624 million representing an increase of €1,783 million (+14%) when compared with November 2019. The value of goods exports for the period January to November 2020 was €149,051 million, an increase of €8,209 million (+6%) when compared with the first eleven months of 2019.

Exports of Medical and pharmaceutical products increased by €2,949 million (+74%) to €6,948 million, accounting for 48% of the total value of exports.

Exports of Organic chemicals decreased by €317 million (-14%) to €1,946 million in November 2020 compared with November 2019.

Exports of Office machines and automatic data processing machines decreased by €152 million (-27%) to €407 million over the same comparative period (see Table 3).

Imports increased by €750 million in November compared with November 2019

The (unadjusted) value of goods imports for November 2020 was €8,511 million, an increase of €749 million (+10%) when compared with November 2019. The value of goods imports for January to November 2020 was €76,918 million, which is a decrease of €5,466 million (-7%) compared with January to November of 2019.

Imports of Medical and pharmaceutical products increased by €471 million (+78%) to €1,072 million in November 2020 compared with November 2019.

Imports of Organic chemicals increased by €401 million (+139%) to €689 million.

Imports of Food and live animals increased by €90 million (+13%) to €755 million.

Imports of Petroleum decreased by €220 million (-52%) to €201 million in November 2020 compared with November 2019 (see Table 3).

The value of goods imports for November 2020 excluding SITC 79 (Other transport equipment, including aircraft) was €6,981 million, an increase of €943 million (+16%) when compared with the corresponding November 2019 figure of €6,038 million.

Exports to Great Britain increased by €380 million in November

Exports to Great Britain increased by €382 million (+35%) to €1,459 million in November 2020 compared with November 2019. This is due to increases in the exports of Medical and pharmaceutical products. Exports to Great Britain accounted for 10% of the total value of exports.

The value of goods exports to Great Britain in the first eleven months of 2020 was €11,383 million, a decrease of €1,076 million (-9%) compared with January to November of 2019.

Imports from Great Britain in November 2020 increased by €282 million (+18%) to €1,879 million compared with November 2019. Imports from Great Britain were 22% of the value of total imports in November 2020.

The value of goods imports from Great Britain for January to November 2020 was €16,321 million, a decrease of €575 million (-3%) compared with the first eleven months of 2019 (see Table 4).

Geographic breakdown of goods exports and imports

The EU accounted for €5,884 million (40%) of total goods exports in November 2020 of which €1,917 million went to Belgium, €1,258 million went to Germany and €872 million went to the Netherlands. Total EU exports in November increased by €1,358 million (+30%) compared with November 2019. As the UK had exited the EU on January 31st 2020, this data compares EU trade excluding the UK for both periods for comparative purposes.

The USA was the main non-EU destination accounting for €4,438 million (30%) of total exports in November 2020.

The EU accounted for €3,021 million (36%) of total goods imports in November 2020, which is an increase of €207 million (+7%) compared with November 2019.

The USA with €1,016 million (12%), and China with €589 million (7%) were the other main non-EU sources of imports (see Table 4).

Exports by industrial origin and Imports by main use

Industrial produce accounted for €13,721 million (94%) of total exports in November 2020. This is an increase of €1,738 million (+15%) when compared with November 2019. There was €5,575 million of this exported to the EU, and €4,407 million to the USA. Agricultural produce accounted for €745 million (5%) of total exports (see Table 6).

Producer capital goods ready for use accounted for €2,159 million (25%) of total imports in November 2020, a decrease of €89 million (-4%) when compared with November 2019.

Consumption goods ready for use represented €2,344 million (28%) of total imports, and Materials for further production accounted for €3,810 million (45%) (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. 

 

From February 2020 the EU total no longer includes data from the United Kingdom. The new EU total aggregate is labelled EU27. For data comparability we have published the EU27 and the UK data separately for both the current period and previous time periods.

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
2017122,78582,94339,842 135.8  168.9  99.3  96.1  103.3
2018140,64591,99148,654 156.2  189.2  99.1  99.5  99.6
2019152,49790,86261,635 168.5  192.7  99.5  96.6  103.0
         
2018Quarter 133,84320,10013,743 152.3  172.2  97.9  95.9  102.1
 Quarter 235,55621,88713,669 161.5  184.3  96.8  97.6  99.3
 Quarter 334,16323,22310,940 148.2  181.9  101.4  104.0  97.6
 Quarter 437,08326,78110,302 163.2  218.7  100.2  100.3  99.9
2019Quarter 137,57021,84715,723 166.5  186.7  99.3  96.1  103.3
 Quarter 238,52722,15816,369 170.6  190.1  99.3  95.7  103.8
 Quarter 337,61822,00415,614 166.5  187.9  99.4  96.3  103.3
 Quarter 438,78224,85313,929 170.8  208.5  99.9  97.1  102.8
2020Quarter 143,81121,72822,084 199.4  186.4  96.3  95.8  100.5
 Quarter 237,89118,61019,281 172.2  159.1  96.7  96.0  100.8
 Quarter 340,60420,38420,220 190.2  175.7  93.9  95.2  98.8
        
2018January12,1026,5415,561 159.6  168.8  100.1  95.4  104.9
 February10,4016,4263,975 138.1  163.8  99.4  96.7  102.8
 March11,3407,1324,208 159.1  183.9  94.1  95.5  98.5
 April10,9806,6064,375 155.4  160.9  93.4  101.1  92.4
 May11,8106,9274,884 160.1  182.1  97.4  93.7  103.9
 June12,7668,3554,410 168.9  209.9  99.7  98.1  101.7
 July11,0757,7213,354 144.6  179.8  101.1  105.8  95.6
 August11,5387,2494,290 152.9  176.4  99.6  100.9  98.7
 September11,5508,2543,297 147.1  189.4  103.6  105.2  98.4
 October12,2558,9943,262 164.1  216.5  98.6  100.8  97.8
 November12,9568,8724,084 173.5  219.8  98.9  99.6  99.3
 December11,8728,9152,957 152.1  219.9  103.2  100.6  102.5
      
2019January13,4847,6625,822 179.1  196.0  99.4  96.3  103.2
 February12,4126,5075,905 164.9  165.8  99.3  96.6  102.8
 March11,6747,6783,996 155.5  198.2  99.1  95.4  103.8
 April12,7877,3415,447 169.7  190.7  99.4  94.8  104.9
 May13,6947,3566,337 182.1  189.2  99.3  95.8  103.6
 June12,0467,4614,585 160.1  190.3  99.3  96.6  102.8
 July13,3607,9385,421 177.2  203.2  99.5  96.2  103.4
 August11,7556,7355,019 156.2  172.8  99.3  96.0  103.5
 September12,5047,3315,174 166.2  187.7  99.5  96.6  102.9
 October14,2868,6145,672 189.4  218.6  99.5  97.0  102.6
 November12,8417,7615,080 169.5  194.7  99.9  97.5  102.5
 December11,6558,4783,177 153.5  212.3  100.2  96.9  103.4
          
20204January14,9817,1087,873 204.6  179.8  96.6  97.4  99.2
 February11,6837,8663,817 166.2  206.5  92.8  93.8  98.9
 March17,1486,75410,394 227.4  172.8  99.5  96.3  103.3
 April11,4055,6655,740 160.0  146.8  94.1  95.1  99.0
 May12,8816,2556,626 173.9  162.7  97.7  94.7  103.2
 June13,6056,6906,915 182.6  167.9  98.3  98.1  100.2
 July13,5218,1095,412 190.6  207.9  93.6  96.1  97.4
 August13,1755,9807,196 182.5  159.9  95.3  92.1  103.4
 September13,9086,2967,612 197.5  159.4  92.9  97.3  95.6
 October12,1217,6864,435 170.6  209.1  93.8  90.6  103.5
 November14,6248,5116,113 206.6  228.8  93.4  91.7  101.9
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. November 2020 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
2018Quarter 133,21120,28912,922 148.1  172.3
 Quarter 234,88621,89912,987 157.8  184.2
 Quarter 335,69424,75610,938 155.4  193.9
 Quarter 436,78925,01911,770 163.6  206.4
2019Quarter 137,58121,74015,841 165.6  187.9
 Quarter 237,69822,13115,567 167.1  192.4
 Quarter 338,54423,39515,148 171.3  198.4
 Quarter 438,90523,09015,816 171.2  189.9
2020Quarter 142,58622,17320,413 192.7  184.3
 Quarter 237,34218,66718,676 170.2  165.7
 Quarter 341,29121,24020,051 194.6  184.7
       
2018January11,6496,7744,876 151.2  175.5
 February10,8556,8773,978 146.1  172.1
 March10,7076,6394,068 147.0  169.4
 April11,2737,0074,266 157.9  176.0
 May11,5426,5994,943 154.7  175.7
 June12,0708,2933,778 161.0  201.0
 July11,7148,0733,641 151.9  186.2
 August11,7228,1733,549 155.9  197.0
 September12,2588,5103,748 158.4  198.4
 October11,8988,3443,554 154.2  196.9
 November12,1468,2773,869 162.3  202.8
 December12,7458,3994,347 174.3  219.7
       
2019January12,9787,4795,499 172.3  198.3
 February13,0626,9526,109 175.2  174.8
 March11,5417,3094,232 149.3  190.5
 April12,7127,3875,325 164.6  195.3
 May12,6727,3665,306 172.9  192.3
 June12,3147,3784,936 163.8  189.7
 July13,2938,1625,131 178.1  207.3
 August12,4887,6454,843 165.4  192.0
 September12,7637,5885,174 170.3  195.8
 October14,1107,8316,280 181.7  195.6
 November12,4147,4994,915 163.4  187.3
 December12,3817,7604,621 168.4  186.8
      
2020January13,6727,6216,051 191.0  186.4
 February12,1308,2063,924 174.5  211.0
 March16,7846,34610,438 212.6  155.5
April11,4325,7885,644 158.6  156.9
May12,9236,5256,398 178.4  172.5
June12,9876,3546,634 173.5  167.6
July13,1678,1824,985 190.1  205.4
August14,5286,8087,721 200.4  187.1
September13,5956,2507,345 193.3  161.7
October12,3346,9595,375 167.9  194.7
 November14,4498,4545,995 200.8  211.3
1 Seasonally adjusted data has been revised from January 2010 onwards using X-13-ARIMA methodology, implemented in JDEMETRA+. Previously X-11 methodology was used.
Table 3 Goods Exports and Imports classified by commodity1
€million
SITC (Rev 4)ExportsImports
NovNovJan-NovJan-NovNovNovJan-NovJan-Nov
20192020201920202019202020192020
0Food and live animals99697610,77310,4616657557,1647,138
00Live animals other than animals of Division 03798941629339104289397
01Meat and meat preparations3163243,4883,4358774925812
02Dairy products and birds' eggs2342182,8252,6757167795829
03Fish, crustaceans, molluscs and preparations thereof40395344802222272256
04Cereals and cereal preparations44464934951011241,1661,091
05Vegetables and fruit26262892971101081,2261,218
06Sugars, sugar preparations and honey16101411153834357365
07Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manufactures thereof35293833845260605590
08Feeding stuff for animals (excluding unmilled cereals)283233635579101836884
09Miscellaneous edible products and preparations1791641,8681,9326661693695
1Beverages and tobacco1701431,5471,3218396915977
11Beverages 1701431,5471,3217895848921
12Tobacco and tobacco manufactures0000516756
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels1291311,5481,2767669931859
21Hides, skins and furskins, raw5565510000
22Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits 20128232622
23Crude rubber (including synthetic and reclaimed) 031411119
24Cork and wood12171631661618199167
25Pulp and waste paper344435325451
26Textile fibres and their wastes1111121102111411
27Crude fertilisers and minerals (excluding coal, petroleum and precious stones)1191301061413168151
28Metalliferous ores and metal scrap75739016972012235202
29Crude animal and vegetable materials nes10101091071819224244
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials85418036165172905,0233,207
32Coal, coke and briquettes109102102795858
33Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials66236364514212013,9832,415
34Gas, natural and manufactured1210137973863669
35Electric current7655509711964
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes6863812124240270
41Animal oils and fats575269111417
42Fixed vegetable fats and oils119111720202225
43Animal or vegetable fats and oils, processed; waxes0011332427
5Chemicals and related products7,4169,91486,59398,5331,2962,19615,30019,721
51Organic chemicals2,2631,94627,52328,9812886893,9537,469
52Inorganic chemicals17382343172822301294
53Dyeing, tanning and colouring materials11111171042024233239
54Medical and pharmaceutical products3,9996,94846,61757,8996011,0726,6347,711
55Essential oils; perfume materials; toilet and cleansing preparations6836057,3327,2051241421,2821,203
56Fertilisers (other than those of Division 27)101082124393372
57Plastics in primary forms37314193597378875812
58Plastics in non-primary forms48474844915759705666
59Chemical materials and products nes3592893,8563,1708486925954
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material2162242,2022,1735035635,5005,339
61Leather; leather manufactures nes; dressed furskins333131221817
62Rubber manufactures nes914991062934343329
63Cork and wood manufactures (excluding furniture)25242762442831313294
64Paper, paperboard and articles thereof18161721608684920870
65Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related products141514614646112505742
66Non-metallic mineral manufactures nes58524744626059616585
67Iron and steel16131751467270863712
68Non-ferrous metals99129856146554473
69Manufactures of metals nes64786997931191251,3671,317
7Machinery and transport equipment2,2231,64221,34420,0573,5283,35636,72128,191
71Power generating machinery and equipment1271008869681541571,3091,444
72Machinery specialised for particular industries102626946691191211,4911,460
73Metalworking machinery4226261210128109
74General industrial machinery and equipment nes and parts nes1841371,8911,5081532021,7141,864
75Office machines and automatic data processing machines (including computers)5594074,6414,3275334454,8004,642
76Telecommunications and sound equipment104811,2671,0812012281,9251,872
77Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances nes and parts7668027,5758,6322773253,1013,086
78Road vehicles (including air-cushion vehicles)35343563183563383,1972,719
79Other transport equipment (including aircraft)341174,0072,5271,7231,53019,05510,995
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles1,5051,44215,03113,6018959608,6379,263
81Prefab buildings; plumbing and electrical fixtures and fittings11141201162728285242
82Furniture and parts thereof; bedding, cushions etc23192051795653546501
83Travel goods, handbags and similar containers4335301511146111
84Articles of apparel; clothing accessories25182221941881931,8551,966
85Footwear4335273749430400
87Professional, scientific and controlling apparatus nes6436116,2965,4711811881,7652,059
88Photographic apparatus; optical goods; watches and clocks1101221,3071,2384251402487
89Miscellaneous manufactured articles nes6876516,8116,3473493873,2093,497
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere3263461342529288261
Unclassified estimates265975927981521721,6651,692
           
Total12,84114,624140,842149,0517,7618,51182,38476,918
1 Trade statistics revised since 2000. November 2020 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
NovNovJan-NovJan-NovNovNovJan-NovJan-Nov
20192020201920202019202020192020
Austria51323873242722298263
Belgium6911,91714,60316,8361331271,5041,720
Bulgaria3511150123333635
Croatia4105351111617
Cyprus3338250033
Czech Republic43375284077962602638
Denmark58476165444843473513
Estonia221814112011
Finland25272552451314170143
France4684294,9884,7749711,30410,7567,746
Germany1,4151,25812,67015,8717236196,7955,996
Greece991507091,608686358
Hungary 25213002343014188245
Italy 2824903,5784,3521371641,3081,537
Latvia7117176354244
Lithuania3533649610389
Luxembourg777685433937
Malta343847221410
Netherlands7868727,9847,8772752532,8862,720
Poland1211211,0961,0567269766754
Portugal36533873473244271267
Romania29513563667139598
Slovakia81287106655148
Slovenia1014106136333529
Spain2021942,1772,2601141211,2571,478
Sweden97598647095251635447
EU Country not specified2164734057963651,0601,638
Total EU2734,5265,88452,50559,1152,8143,02129,48426,584
Euro-Zone44,0985,47948,20255,0482,4592,70025,61422,198
         
Great Britain1,0771,45912,45911,3831,5971,87916,89616,321
Northern Ireland1921951,9921,8961391441,5781,555
Total UK1,2691,65414,45113,2791,7352,02318,47517,877
         
Australia787371281612995109
Brazil20262912691927223201
Canada831971,3431,6623936515408
China57599018,1099,7484865894,8095,463
India68404323276144594483
Japan2912692,6782,6021051061,0851,077
Malaysia16171892065638969433
Mexico1511201,4031,5133231338360
Norway25272202687129560450
Russia43495864143319378270
Saudi Arabia415957958610657
Singapore63375284859290335461
South Africa49263992769511495
South Korea4663493607118192848995
Switzerland4183145,1473,114522301,7544,152
Taiwan18273434383148476511
Thailand18151591303747394374
Turkey51516036236053608560
USA4,2864,43843,46946,1071,2271,01613,14811,278
Other countries4063334,2024,9782112522,6942,387
Country unknown611532,0021,4884636024,4852,335
Total Non-EU (excl UK)7,0467,08673,88676,6573,2123,46634,42532,458
         
Total12,84114,624140,842149,0517,7618,51182,38476,918
1 Trade statistics revised since 2000. November 2020 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 From February 2020 the United Kingdom exited the EU, therefore the EU total is made up of the 27 remaining member states. For data comparability over time the EU are shown separately for both the current and prior periods.
4 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.
5 China includes Hong Kong and Macao.
6 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 SITCNovNovJan-NovJan-NovNovNovJan-NovJan-Nov
20192020201920202019202020192020
Great Britain and Northern Ireland1,2691,65414,45113,2791,7352,02318,47517,877
0Food and live animals4014484,2664,0033263903,5213,396
1Beverages and tobacco27272782503642420418
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels36354523982223267246
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials31203852452911862,6021,786
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes222125575464
5Chemicals and related products2716774,0203,8421874312,3902,572
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material1251111,2211,0521942122,1622,168
7Machinery and transport equipment2091762,0691,8853523913,8804,050
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles1271211,3521,1772352702,1962,371
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere38373864018770982806
EU 2724,5265,88452,50559,1152,8143,02129,48426,584
0Food and live animals3122813,6763,4852372172,4022,524
1Beverages and tobacco40443753593237342382
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels65667445542222269256
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials188961305023718274
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes4535461213135147
5Chemicals and related products2,7124,44935,77443,9034535795,4376,552
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material56545855831721551,7791,558
7Machinery and transport equipment6754205,6935,0271,5541,66615,87412,098
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles6124945,2484,6022132001,8291,878
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere336327942868109699914
USA4,2864,43843,46946,1071,2271,01613,14811,278
0Food and live animals24223573721627226193
1Beverages and tobacco8250690506211616
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels222616455545
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials001370106661,040717
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes00000011
5Chemicals and related products3,2293,53632,52437,2483244813,4453,836
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material17411673483833395382
7Machinery and transport equipment3872773,7032,9556082896,6104,866
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles5425095,8164,6311211071,2461,147
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere4249308611475
China37599018,1099,7484865894,8095,463
0Food and live animals8477799758555155
1Beverages and tobacco11880012
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels333841323025
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials0-10-000
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes11440000
5Chemicals and related products941561,4191,6153042360449
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material2222254352496602
7Machinery and transport equipment5355665,3106,2672563142,3992,645
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles39965081,0291401661,4011,617
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere0000787068
Rest of World2,0021,74722,30820,8031,5001,86116,46915,717
0Food and live animals1761491,6751,84381116963970
1Beverages and tobacco19211971991216136159
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels23242892672516310286
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials35121842407015663429
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes0126435058
5Chemicals and related products1,1101,09612,85511,9263026623,6686,312
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material161620616555110667629
7Machinery and transport equipment4172044,5693,9227576977,9584,532
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles1852212,1072,1631862171,9652,251
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere21222373788890
         
Total12,84114,624140,842149,0517,7618,51182,38476,918
1 Trade statistics revised since 2000. November 2020 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.
Table 6 Goods Exports by industrial origin and area of destination
€million
Industrial origin and areaExports
NovNovJan-NovJan-Nov
2019202020192020
Agricultural produce7347457,7877,555
Great Britain and Northern Ireland3073513,1982,917
EU12452252,9152,751
USA2931368393
Rest of World1541381,3061,495
     
Forestry and fishing produce5256702652
Great Britain and Northern Ireland1421208212
EU12922344293
USA0012
Rest of World913147146
     
Industrial produce11,98313,721131,683139,936
Great Britain and Northern Ireland9071,24310,6239,717
EU14,2225,57549,01355,653
USA4,2564,40743,09245,705
Rest of World2,5972,49628,95528,860
     
Unclassified exports73103671908
     
Total12,84114,624140,842149,051
1EU excluding Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Table 7 Goods Imports by main use and area of origin
€million
Main use and area of originImports
NovNovJan-NovJan-Nov
2019202020192020
Producers capital goods ready for use2,2482,15924,31916,421
Great Britain and Northern Ireland1562181,7022,291
EU11,1121,32812,1528,632
USA404954,7362,549
Rest of World5765195,7292,949
     
Consumption goods ready for use - food drink and tobacco5475516,0545,973
Great Britain and Northern Ireland2782923,1793,032
EU12142032,2302,298
USA444745
Rest of World5151597599
Consumption goods ready for use - other1,3401,79413,67014,063
Great Britain and Northern Ireland3936153,9923,905
EU13814613,6223,935
USA1472072,1071,850
Rest of World4195113,9494,374
     
Materials for further production - agriculture1702342,1132,132
Great Britain and Northern Ireland5380535556
EU16061723760
USA1730325252
Rest of World4063530564
Materials for further production - other3,2833,57734,32636,429
Great Britain and Northern Ireland7697488,0817,285
EU197985910,05810,043
USA6496775,8486,537
Rest of World8871,29310,34012,564
     
Unclassified imports1731971,9021,900
     
Total7,7618,51182,38476,918
1EU excluding Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

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 (October 2020 in this publication), -4 (July 2020) and -8 (March 2020) 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 November 2020 was 58%, covering an estimated 91% of the total value of intra-EU trade (these response rates will have increased by the next time data for November 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

In the April 2020 release the seasonal adjustment methodology for trade in goods data was updated from X-11 to X-13-ARIMA model. The X-13-ARIMA method is implemented in JDEMETRA+, the standard Eurostat software package for Seasonal Adjustment.

X-13-ARIMA incorporates significant new types of modelling capability for the issues commonly faced in seasonal adjustment, and also produces sophisticated diagnostics to help improve seasonal adjustment.

The seasonally adjusted series have been revised back to January 2010 using the new methodology.

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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