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E-mail: Trade@cso.ie Norita Murphy +353 1 4984295 Damian Malone +353 1 4984206

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information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-5155

CSO statistical release, 14 April 2014, 11am

Goods Exports and Imports

February 2014

Seasonally adjusted
€ million
	Exports	Imports	Surplus
September 2013	7,318	4,114	3,204
October 2013	7,342	4,372	2,970
November 2013	6,971	4,422	2,549
December 2013	7,696	4,285	3,410
January 2014	7,175	4,091	3,083
February 2014	7,232	4,022	3,210

Seasonally adjusted trade surplus up 4% in February

Goods Exports and imports Seasonally adjusted

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Preliminary figures for February 2014 indicate an increase in seasonally adjusted exports of €57 million (+1%) to €7,232 million from January 2014. Coupled with a decrease in seasonally adjusted imports of €69 million (-2%) to €4,022 million, the seasonally adjusted trade surplus increased by €127 million (+4%) to €3,210 million (see Table 2).

Comparing February 2014 with February 2013, the value of exports increased by €168 million (+3%) to €6,787 million. The main drivers were increases of €92 million (+15%) in the exports of Food and live animals, €67 million (+14%) in Essential oils and €48 million (+4%) in the exports of Organic chemicals.

On an overall basis the EU accounted for €3,758 million (55%) of total exports in February 2014. The USA was the main non-EU destination accounting for 22% (€1,487m) of total exports in February 2014.

Comparing February 2014 with February 2013, the value of imports rose by €109 million (+3%) to €4,022 million. Imports of Machinery specialised for particular industries increased by €105 million (+131%).

The EU accounted for 65% of the value of imports in February 2014, with 31% coming from Great Britain. The USA (10%) and China (5%) were the main non-EU sources of imports.

Show Table 1 Goods Exports and Imports summary analysis

Table 1 Goods Exports and Imports summary analysis
Period		Value			Volume index¹		Unit value index¹
		Exports	Imports	Trade surplus	Base year 1990=100
		Exports	Imports	Trade surplus	Base year 1990=100
		€m	€m	€m	Exports	Imports	Exports	Imports	Terms of trade²
		€m	€m	€m	Exports	Imports	Exports	Imports	Terms of trade²
1990		18,204	15,832	2,372	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
1991		19,070	16,317	2,753	105.6	100.8	99.3	102.3	97.0
1992		21,260	16,754	4,506	121.1	105.6	96.6	100.2	96.4
1993		25,179	18,900	6,279	133.4	113.0	103.9	105.4	98.6
1994		28,891	21,945	6,946	153.2	127.9	103.8	108.1	96.0
1995		35,330	26,181	9,149	184.0	146.3	105.7	112.7	93.7
1996		38,609	28,479	10,130	202.2	160.9	105.1	111.4	94.3
1997		44,868	32,863	12,004	232.4	184.8	106.3	112.0	94.9
1998		57,322	39,715	17,607	289.2	218.3	109.1	114.6	95.2
1999		66,956	44,327	22,629	336.5	236.5	109.5	118.0	92.8
2000		83,889	55,909	27,980	401.4	275.2	115.0	128.0	89.9
2001		92,690	57,384	35,306	422.0	274.2	120.9	131.8	91.7
2002		93,675	55,628	38,047	435.1	276.6	118.5	126.7	93.5
2003		82,076	47,865	34,212	418.4	259.7	108.0	116.1	93.0
2004		84,410	51,105	33,304	446.5	283.6	104.0	113.5	91.7
2005		86,732	57,465	29,267	456.7	316.3	104.5	114.4	91.3
2006		86,772	60,857	25,915	458.0	325.2	104.4	117.7	88.7
2007		89,226	63,486	25,741	481.8	340.9	101.9	117.3	86.9
2008		86,394	57,585	28,810	484.5	300.5	98.0	119.7	81.9
2009		85,804	45,061	40,742	468.4	249.2	98.9	113.9	86.8
2010		89,703	45,764	43,940	485.5	241.3	101.2	119.2	84.9
2011		91,228	48,302	42,925	507.9	240.8	99.7	126.4	78.8
2012		91,688	49,151	42,538	479.1	231.9	105.8	133.7	79.2
2013		86,900	49,761	37,139	..	..	..	..	..

2012	January	7,678	4,466	3,212	483.9	251.4	104.7	134.2	78.0
	February	7,402	3,957	3,445	470.5	224.9	103.9	133.0	78.1
	March	8,628	4,987	3,640	548.1	286.5	103.9	131.7	78.9
	April	7,073	3,741	3,332	449.8	210.5	103.8	134.3	77.3
	May	7,631	4,066	3,564	479.3	231.8	105.2	132.5	79.4
	June	8,065	3,980	4,085	492.8	225.1	107.8	133.0	81.0
	July	7,808	3,799	4,009	482.2	212.9	107.1	134.5	79.7
	August	8,376	3,865	4,511	508.3	214.6	108.8	135.7	80.1
	September	7,464	4,204	3,260	465.4	242.5	106.8	134.9	79.2
	October	7,470	4,328	3,142	471.4	245.6	106.0	134.3	78.9
	November	8,317	4,042	4,275	524.5	224.0	105.2	133.6	78.8
	December	5,778	3,717	2,061	372.3	211.5	106.8	132.2	80.8
2013³	January	6,729	4,442	2,287	419.9	251.3	105.8	133.6	79.2
	February	6,619	3,913	2,706	424.1	222.4	103.1	133.0	77.5
	March	8,086	4,138	3,948	505.8	237.1	105.6	131.9	80.1
	April	7,473	4,239	3,234	462.8	239.0	106.6	134.0	79.6
	May	7,218	3,949	3,268	452.1	228.4	105.4	130.7	80.7
	June	7,341	4,036	3,306	463.1	230.6	104.7	132.3	79.2
	July	7,593	3,937	3,656	482.5	221.2	103.9	134.5	77.3
	August	6,972	3,985	2,987	439.9	230.9	104.7	130.4	80.3
	September	7,354	4,037	3,318	467.0	227.3	104.0	134.2	77.5
	October	7,296	4,415	2,881	468.5	251.3	102.8	132.8	77.5
	November	7,667	4,328	3,339	490.4	248.4	103.2	131.7	78.4
	December	6,553	4,344	2,209	417.0	247.2	103.8	132.8	78.2
2014³	January	6,990	4,498	2,492	..	..	..	..	..
	February⁴	6,787	4,022	2,766	..	..	..	..	..
¹Monthly data have been rescaled to make their average equal to the annual.
²Export unit value index divided by Import unit value index.
³Revised, see background notes.
⁴February 2014 is based on current Intrastat response levels, see background notes.
.. Indices are not yet available.

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Show Table 2 Goods Exports and Imports seasonally adjusted series

Table 2 Goods Exports and Imports seasonaly adjusted¹series
Period		Value			Volume index
		Exports	Imports	Trade surplus	Base year 1990=100
		Exports	Imports	Trade surplus	Base year 1990=100
		€m	€m	€m	Exports	Imports
2011	January	7,289	4,495	2,795	485.9	263.6
	February	8,051	4,322	3,729	535.5	251.8
	March	7,626	3,820	3,806	520.7	222.1
	April	7,577	4,919	2,658	495.4	289.2
	May	7,568	3,724	3,844	503.9	227.2
	June	7,840	3,833	4,007	537.2	228.2
	July	7,023	3,805	3,217	470.7	228.9
	August	7,784	3,986	3,798	524.5	240.5
	September	7,799	3,827	3,973	531.2	231.9
	October	7,461	3,861	3,601	501.9	233.9
	November	8,095	3,806	4,289	541.9	219.5
	December	7,113	4,129	2,984	488.7	239.5
2012	January	8,302	4,506	3,796	516.1	253.4
	February	7,286	3,730	3,557	462.3	214.8
	March	7,739	4,623	3,116	498.5	260.9
	April	7,029	3,584	3,445	443.4	202.3
	May	7,528	4,119	3,409	472.2	229.7
	June	7,471	4,012	3,459	459.5	228.3
	July	7,833	4,003	3,829	485.9	225.1
	August	9,188	4,215	4,973	561.3	232.0
	September	7,299	4,479	2,820	457.5	261.2
	October	7,492	4,216	3,276	465.4	238.1
	November	8,033	3,851	4,182	498.6	216.0
	December	6,539	3,801	2,738	430.2	218.5
2013	January	6,791	3,978	2,813	423.4	236.5
	February	6,976	3,898	3,078	444.0	222.9
	March	7,414	3,806	3,609	459.7	217.4
	April	7,351	4,062	3,288	457.4	230.4
	May	7,086	4,027	3,060	446.0	230.0
	June	7,131	4,229	2,902	453.3	240.2
	July	7,326	4,157	3,169	469.6	230.8
	August	7,662	4,490	3,172	485.7	254.9
	September	7,318	4,114	3,204	466.1	233.6
	October	7,342	4,372	2,970	464.2	242.7
	November	6,971	4,422	2,549	443.8	253.1
	December	7,696	4,285	3,410	490.2	245.2
2014	January	7,175	4,091	3,083	..	..
	February	7,232	4,022	3,210	..	..
¹Based on seasonal patterns up to December 2013. Accordingly all values in this table may have been revised.
.. Indices are not yet available.

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Show Table 3 Goods Exports and Imports classified by commodity

Table 3 Goods Exports and Imports classified by commodity¹
										€million
SITC (Rev 4)			Exports				Imports
			Exports				Imports
			Feb	Feb	Jan-Feb	Jan-Feb	Feb	Feb	Jan-Feb	Jan-Feb
			2013	2014	2013	2014	2013	2014	2013	2014
0	Food and live animals		618	710	1,256	1,394	476	468	961	990
	00	Live animals other than animals of Division 03	15	26	33	44	9	9	23	46
	01	Meat and meat preparations	213	245	447	493	61	62	126	128
	02	Dairy products and birds' eggs	113	124	219	243	53	62	100	126
	03	Fish, crustaceans, molluscs and preparations thereof	51	58	96	108	17	16	32	33
	04	Cereals and cereal preparations	23	24	46	49	73	72	154	154
	05	Vegetables and fruit	18	18	38	38	78	80	159	168
	06	Sugars, sugar preparations and honey	9	9	22	18	33	26	64	54
	07	Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manufactures thereof	31	34	65	69	29	32	61	67
	08	Feeding stuff for animals (excl. unmilled cereals)	21	20	41	40	92	73	178	144
	09	Miscellaneous edible products and preparations	125	151	249	293	32	35	64	69
1	Beverages and tobacco		84	77	173	154	50	56	96	98
	11	Beverages	78	71	160	145	42	50	82	87
	12	Tobacco and tobacco manufactures	6	6	13	9	8	5	14	11
2	Crude materials, inedible, except fuels		138	135	283	276	55	57	105	106
	21	Hides, skins and furskins, raw	11	12	23	25	0	0	0	0
	22	Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits	0	0	0	0	2	2	4	4
	23	Crude rubber (incl. synthetic and reclaimed)	0	0	0	1	2	2	2	3
	24	Cork and wood	9	11	19	22	8	9	14	19
	25	Pulp and waste paper	4	5	9	10	2	3	7	6
	26	Textile fibres and their wastes	11	12	24	21	1	1	3	2
	27	Crude fertilisers and minerals (excl. coal, petroleum and precious stones)	10	13	23	26	9	9	17	17
	28	Metalliferous ores and metal scrap	83	74	166	154	15	16	31	27
	29	Crude animal and vegetable materials nes	10	8	18	18	16	15	26	27
3	Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials		61	38	112	106	623	597	1,117	1,230
	32	Coal, coke and briquettes	8	8	13	14	20	15	50	22
	33	Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials	51	29	95	89	477	457	804	920
	34	Gas, natural and manufactured	1	1	1	4	125	116	261	263
	35	Electric current	1	0	2	0	1	9	2	25
4	Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes		6	4	11	8	18	16	38	32
	41	Animal oils and fats	5	3	10	6	1	1	2	2
	42	Fixed vegetable fats and oils	1	1	1	1	15	14	31	27
	43	Animal or vegetable fats and oils, processed; waxes	0	0	0	1	3	2	5	3
5	Chemicals and related products		3,895	3,952	7,860	8,147	904	866	1,828	1,835
	51	Organic chemicals	1,325	1,373	2,789	3,067	216	188	456	482
	52	Inorganic chemicals	14	14	29	27	17	15	33	32
	53	Dyeing, tanning and colouring materials	18	9	38	19	15	16	30	31
	54	Medical and pharmaceutical products	1,733	1,699	3,350	3,332	353	380	719	742
	55	Essential oils; perfume materials; toilet and cleansing preparations	494	561	1,021	1,087	83	77	164	156
	56	Fertilisers (other than those of Division 27)	0	0	0	1	51	39	100	77
	57	Plastics in primary forms	36	24	65	49	61	65	133	130
	58	Plastics in non-primary forms	29	35	59	70	34	35	68	77
	59	Chemical materials and products nes	245	237	509	496	75	51	124	109
6	Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material		132	151	258	309	296	312	601	651
	61	Leather; leather manufactures nes; dressed furskins	2	2	3	4	1	1	2	3
	62	Rubber manufactures nes	5	5	11	11	23	23	47	47
	63	Cork and wood manufactures (excl. furniture)	19	18	39	38	14	15	26	30
	64	Paper, paperboard and articles thereof	11	13	22	27	60	65	127	133
	65	Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related products	11	12	22	24	25	26	53	57
	66	Non-metallic mineral manufactures nes	19	23	37	47	29	29	59	61
	67	Iron and steel	14	10	22	21	41	45	83	94
	68	Non-ferrous metals	5	6	11	13	45	46	79	93
	69	Manufactures of metals nes	45	60	90	125	58	62	124	132
7	Machinery and transport equipment		762	722	1,520	1,459	884	1,020	2,361	2,255
	71	Power generating machinery and equipment	55	45	100	97	58	39	137	122
	72	Machinery specialised for particular industries	46	45	82	81	80	185	157	428
	73	Metalworking machinery	2	3	4	5	5	6	11	11
	74	General industrial machinery and equipment nes and parts nes	108	151	202	261	81	100	177	201
	75	Office machines and automatic data processing machines	283	239	571	518	207	220	479	471
	76	Telecommunications and sound equipment	48	43	110	91	68	73	166	168
	77	Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances nes and parts	183	141	372	283	144	149	309	327
	78	Road vehicles (incl. air-cushion vehicles)	18	18	37	36	195	223	389	472
	79	Other transport equipment	20	37	42	88	47	27	535	55
8	Miscellaneous manufactured articles		847	870	1,704	1,728	441	458	909	973
	81	Prefab buildings; plumbing and electrical fixtures and fittings	10	9	18	20	11	13	24	29
	82	Furniture and parts thereof; bedding, cushions etc	10	14	18	29	25	28	48	56
	83	Travel goods, handbags and similar containers	1	1	2	2	8	7	17	15
	84	Articles of apparel; clothing accessories	14	14	30	29	118	100	243	218
	85	Footwear	2	2	4	5	26	24	51	48
	87	Professional, scientific and controlling apparatus nes	275	347	552	673	80	100	170	227
	88	Photographic apparatus; optical goods; watches and clocks	84	83	174	171	18	19	35	39
	89	Miscellaneous manufactured articles nes	453	399	907	800	155	167	320	342
9	Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere		37	70	94	78	83	86	176	181
Unclassified estimates²			38	58	77	116	82	85	165	168

Total			6,619	6,787	13,348	13,777	3,913	4,021	8,355	8,519
¹February 2014 is based on current Intrastat response levels, see background notes.
² Estimates for which a commodity classification is not available.

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Open in Excel: Goods Exports and Imports February 2014 Table 3 (XLS 17KB)

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Show Table 4 Goods Exports and Imports classified by country

Table 4 Goods Exports and Imports classified by country¹
								€million
Country	Exports				Imports
	Feb	Feb	Jan-Feb	Jan-Feb	Feb	Feb	Jan-Feb	Jan-Feb
	2013	2014	2013	2014	2013	2014	2013	2014
Austria	32	22	82	52	14	16	28	31
Belgium	812	1,047	1,541	1,903	128	78	213	168
Bulgaria	5	4	9	9	1	1	2	7
Croatia²	0	2	0	4	0	0	0	0
Cyprus	3	1	5	4	0	0	0	0
Czech Republic	31	40	61	85	29	31	61	71
Denmark	45	39	90	87	31	31	61	65
Estonia	2	1	3	3	2	1	4	1
Finland	28	24	62	53	8	9	17	21
France	322	334	654	652	185	177	369	338
Germany	656	435	1,164	884	345	359	755	747
Great Britain	878	844	1,827	1,742	1,303	1,266	2,578	2,746
Greece	23	20	48	47	3	4	6	5
Hungary	21	19	42	39	10	8	18	16
Italy	183	143	407	344	76	70	149	135
Latvia	3	4	7	5	3	1	6	3
Lithuania	2	2	4	5	9	5	16	8
Luxembourg	3	5	7	10	5	2	9	6
Malta	2	1	3	3	1	1	3	1
Netherlands	289	269	577	562	172	210	443	416
Northern Ireland	107	121	216	242	76	88	157	174
Poland	61	63	115	137	25	27	57	59
Portugal	27	30	53	54	11	13	22	21
Romania	29	27	61	59	8	6	17	11
Slovakia	5	4	10	9	6	3	11	13
Slovenia	4	3	6	5	1	1	1	6
Spain	177	198	354	444	66	66	132	134
Sweden	53	51	115	101	28	28	65	63
EU Country not specified³	1	5	4	9	88	105	187	223
Total EU	3,802	3,758	7,528	7,555	2,634	2,607	5,386	5,492
of which Euro-Zone⁴	2,566	2,541	4,976	5,036	1,023	1,010	2,162	2,048

Australia	63	41	116	100	3	11	10	17
Brazil	18	16	39	34	14	11	28	20
Canada	84	69	139	116	12	21	34	36
China	127	146	316	293	233	206	460	499
India	21	15	40	33	29	34	62	69
Japan	131	136	282	334	76	145	155	387
Malaysia	14	13	37	28	15	20	33	37
Mexico	68	94	124	151	25	21	45	44
Norway	27	21	64	48	120	128	184	214
Russia	50	58	98	104	10	15	29	30
Saudi Arabia	60	44	118	84	26	1	26	1
Singapore	47	47	92	93	17	24	46	85
South Africa	18	53	37	71	4	6	9	10
South Korea	21	30	46	56	27	36	64	69
Switzerland	210	395	422	841	91	40	175	156
Taiwan	9	13	16	23	14	17	29	34
Thailand	9	10	17	26	34	31	61	62
Turkey	33	34	74	74	23	26	47	65
USA	1,504	1,487	3,115	3,089	350	419	1,107	837
Other countries	300	300	626	615	122	175	243	302
Country unknown⁵	2	6	4	11	35	28	121	52

Total	6,619	6,787	13,348	13,777	3,913	4,021	8,355	8,519
¹February 2014 is based on current Intrastat response levels, see background notes.
²Croatia joined the EU on 1 July 2013.
³Includes estimates for traders below the Intrastat threshold and transactions where the EU country was not specified.
⁴Euro-zone members from January 2014: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Greece, Ireland, Italy,
the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus, Slovakia, Estonia and Lativa.
⁵Trade for which the country of origin or country of final destination is unknown.

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Show Table 5 Goods Exports and Imports classified by commodity and principal countries

Table 5 Goods Exports and Imports classified by commodity and principal countries¹
									€million
		Exports				Imports
	Country by Section level of SITC	Feb	Feb	Jan-Feb	Jan-Feb	Feb	Feb	Jan-Feb	Jan-Feb
		2013	2014	2013	2014	2013	2014	2013	2014
Great Britain		878	844	1,827	1,742	1,303	1,266	2,578	2,746
0	Food and live animals	241	260	498	517	181	183	371	396
1	Beverages and tobacco	20	20	36	37	17	26	33	40
2	Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	26	29	56	60	11	10	24	21
3	Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	46	31	86	89	446	395	817	951
4	Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	1	1	4	3	3	4	7	6
5	Chemicals and related products	296	220	641	484	164	154	309	322
6	Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	51	61	101	124	114	127	242	254
7	Machinery and transport equipment	99	125	212	229	181	182	397	376
8	Miscellaneous manufactured articles	78	69	153	144	138	143	286	293
9	Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere	19	26	38	55	47	43	91	85
Other EU^2,3		2,924	2,914	5,701	5,813	1,331	1,341	2,809	2,747
0	Food and live animals	238	255	470	502	209	194	421	401
1	Beverages and tobacco	25	21	50	43	25	23	50	43
2	Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	78	77	151	149	20	21	35	39
3	Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	14	7	25	17	37	17	94	29
4	Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	2	2	4	5	12	9	24	19
5	Chemicals and related products	1,870	1,866	3,584	3,691	410	416	781	820
6	Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	59	59	113	116	117	120	232	248
7	Machinery and transport equipment	307	293	608	600	296	319	756	681
8	Miscellaneous manufactured articles	306	297	647	618	96	103	190	224
9	Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere	24	37	49	71	108	118	226	242
USA		1,504	1,487	3,115	3,089	350	419	1,107	837
0	Food and live animals	7	18	17	27	23	23	50	50
1	Beverages and tobacco	24	23	54	48	1	1	1	2
2	Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	1	2	3	4	4	3	7	6
3	Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	0	0	0	0	2	12	3	12
4	Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	0	-	0	-	0	0	0	0
5	Chemicals and related products	1,089	1,017	2,313	2,201	129	158	278	290
6	Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	10	18	19	41	20	19	39	45
7	Machinery and transport equipment	73	82	135	166	112	136	605	297
8	Miscellaneous manufactured articles	298	325	568	596	55	64	116	128
9	Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere	3	3	6	5	4	3	7	7
China⁴		127	146	316	293	233	206	460	499
0	Food and live animals	25	50	51	75	2	2	4	5
1	Beverages and tobacco	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2	Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	7	7	16	16	2	3	4	6
3	Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	-	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
5	Chemicals and related products	25	43	81	101	15	14	27	34
6	Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	1	1	3	3	23	23	46	54
7	Machinery and transport equipment	52	29	129	62	114	96	218	238
8	Miscellaneous manufactured articles	17	16	36	35	74	65	155	155
9	Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere	0	0	0	0	3	3	6	6
Rest of World		1,185	1,393	2,389	2,840	696	789	1,402	1,691
0	Food and live animals	106	127	220	274	60	66	115	138
1	Beverages and tobacco	14	12	31	25	7	6	12	13
2	Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	26	20	56	47	18	21	35	34
3	Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	0	0	1	1	138	174	203	239
4	Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	2	0	2	0	3	3	6	6
5	Chemicals and related products	615	807	1240	1670	186	124	432	368
6	Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	12	11	23	24	21	23	42	49
7	Machinery and transport equipment	231	193	437	402	181	286	384	662
8	Miscellaneous manufactured articles	149	162	301	334	78	82	162	173
9	Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere	30	61	78	63	4	4	11	9

Total		6,619	6,787	13,348	13,777	3,913	4,021	8,355	8,519
¹ February 2014 is based on current Intrastat response levels, see background notes.
²Croatia joined the EU on 1 July 2013.
³Includes estimates for traders below the Intrastat threshold and transactions where the EU country was not specified.
⁴ China includes Hong Kong and Macao.

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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

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 (January 2014 in this publication), -4 (October 2013) and -8 (June 2013) are revised.

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 6,700 while around 1,900 must make a detailed export return. The response rate in terms of number of traders in February 2014 was 69%, covering an estimated 91% of the total value of intra-EU trade (these response rates will have increased by the next time data for February 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.

Imports incorporate an upward adjustment of 1.75% of total imports, which is included in ‘Unclassified estimates’. This special adjustment arises from the difficulty of comprehensively covering all EU imports through the Intrastat survey system. The unclassified category also includes certain miscellaneous adjustments.

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.

Seasonally Adjusted Series

Monthly exports, imports, trade surplus and the volume series for exports and imports have been seasonally adjusted using the US Bureau of the Census X-11 Variant of the Census Method 11 Seasonal Adjustment Program. In the main, monthly projections are based on series recalculated at the end of the previous year.

Services Exports and Imports

The quarterly Balance of Payments (BOP) statistics provide detail on Services exports and imports.

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Goods Exports and Imports

February 2014

Seasonally adjusted trade surplus up 4% in February

Background Notes

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