Unadjusted goods exports were €20.2 billion, the highest value of monthly exports on record.
Unadjusted goods imports were €11 billion, also the highest level recorded.
Seasonally adjusted goods exports were €18.4 billion.
Seasonally adjusted goods imports were €9.7 billion.
Imports from Great Britain were €1.9 billion.
Exports to Great Britain were €1.4 billion.
Seasonally adjusted goods trade exports increased by €2 billion in March 2022
Seasonally adjusted goods exports increased by €1,995 million (+12%) to €18,414 million in March 2022 compared with February 2022, according to preliminary figures.
Seasonally adjusted goods imports decreased by €241 million (-2%) to €9,681 million leading to an increase of €2,235 million (+34%) in the seasonally adjusted trade surplus to €8,732 million in March 2022 compared with the previous month (see Table 2). Seasonal adjustment compares month-to-month data by removing fluctuations that may occur due to seasonal patterns in trade.
Exports exceeded €20 billion in March 2022
The (unadjusted)* value of goods exports for March 2022 was €20,165 million representing an increase of €5,456 million (+37%) when compared with March 2021 and is the highest monthly value for goods exports on record. The value of goods exports for the period January to March 2022 was €52,257 million, an increase of €11,904 million (+30%) when compared with the first three months of 2021.
Exports of Medical and pharmaceutical products increased by €3,554 million (+63%) to €9,214 million in March 2022 compared with March 2021. This represented 46% of total exports.
Exports of Organic chemicals increased by €761 million (+29%) to €3,392 million.
Exports of Food and live animals increased by €158 million (+16%) to €1,128 million over the same comparative period.
Exports of Electrical machinery, apparatus, appliances and parts increased by €226 million (+22%) to €1,260 million (see Table 3).
Imports increased by over €1.8 billion in March 2022 compared with March 2021
The (unadjusted) value of goods imports for March 2022 was €11,036 million representing an increase of €1,817 million (+20%) when compared with March 2021, and is the highest monthly value for goods imports on record. The value of goods imports for January to March 2022 was €29,147 million, which is an increase of €6,841 million (+31%) compared with January to March 2021.
Imports of Mineral fuels, lubricants and related products increased by €538 million (+112%) to €1,020 million in March 2022 compared with March 2021.
Imports of Organic chemicals increased by €1,202 million (+177%) to €1,880 million over the same comparative period.
Imports of Machinery specialised for particular industries increased by €236 million (+128%) to €421 million (see Table 3).
The value of goods imports for March 2022 excluding SITC 79 (Other transport equipment, including aircraft) was €10,500 million, an increase of €2,840 million (+37%) when compared with the corresponding March 2021 figure of €7,659 million (see Table 3).
Exports to Great Britain were €1.4 billion in March 2022
Exports to Great Britain in March 2022 were €1,408 million, an increase of €162 million (+13%) compared with March 2021. The main change was an increase in the exports of Chemicals and related products and Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (see Table 5). Exports to Great Britain accounted for 7% of total exports in March 2022.
The value of goods exports to Great Britain in the first quarter of 2022 was €3,839 million, an increase of €798 million (+26%) on the first quarter 2021.
Imports from Great Britain increased by €540 million (39%) to €1,909 million compared with March 2021. The main increases were in the imports of Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials and Chemicals and related products (see Table 5). Imports from Great Britain were 17% of the value of total imports in March 2022.
The value of goods imports from Great Britain for January to March 2022 was €5,215 million, an increase of €2,287 million (+78%) compared with January to March 2021.
Imports from Northern Ireland of almost €1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2022
Imports from Northern Ireland in the first three months of 2022 increased by €294 million (+34%) to €1,162 million when compared with the first three months of 2021.
Exports to Northern Ireland were €1,123 million in the period January to March 2022, an increase of €368 million (+49%) on the same period in 2021 (see Table 5).
Geographic breakdown of goods exports and imports
The EU accounted for €7,057 million (35%) of total goods exports in March 2022 of which €2,512 million went to Germany and €1,233 million went to Belgium. Total EU exports in March 2022 increased by €1,347 million (+24%) compared with March 2021.
The USA was the main non-EU destination accounting for €7,365 million (37%) of total exports in March 2022.
The EU accounted for €3,027 million (27%) of total goods imports in March 2022, which is a decrease of €197 million (-6%) compared with March 2021.
The UK with €2,336 million (21%), the USA with €1,536 million (14%), China with €1,217 million (11%) and Switzerland with €1,044 million (9%) were the main non-EU sources of imports (see Table 4).
| % | |
| NI | 2.03171876168628 |
| GB | 6.98333888820969 |
| EU27 | 34.9987998390286 |
| US | 36.5256899121407 |
| Rest of World | 19.4604525989347 |
| % | |
| NI | 3.87609820591583 |
| GB | 17.2941234802882 |
| EU27 | 27.4310727795473 |
| US | 13.9172946307355 |
| Rest of World | 37.6814109035132 |
| X-axis label | EU 27 | Rest of World | UK | US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2020 | 4.8180599176017 | 2.62655449500001 | 1.2209073784589 | 3.56454735 |
| Nov 2020 | 6.02161626325908 | 2.6478553 | 1.69502867653897 | 4.553828941 |
| Dec 2020 | 5.00668019271203 | 2.263880031 | 1.3782657604693 | 3.701794393 |
| Jan 2021 | 4.50623624117744 | 2.727675256 | 1.16292985708278 | 4.932282209 |
| Feb 2021 | 4.64207099819885 | 2.343243982 | 1.07783908838482 | 4.252122179 |
| Mar 2021 | 5.71069156633018 | 2.899116902 | 1.55585851818113 | 4.542633046 |
| Apr 2021 | 4.90713263466844 | 2.45698396000001 | 1.34918852232651 | 3.57577931 |
| May 2021 | 5.45478810269973 | 2.689996428 | 1.50140088056247 | 3.90149927 |
| Jun 2021 | 5.60214324394904 | 3.112772704 | 1.75320993601654 | 4.281263191 |
| Jul 2021 | 4.52685118279434 | 3.134559757 | 1.79083712755728 | 3.750234214 |
| Aug 2021 | 4.85342560065652 | 2.785794649 | 1.30359655361404 | 4.229442456 |
| Sep 2021 | 5.85619210292483 | 2.793674125 | 1.73716423676024 | 4.384452418 |
| Oct 2021 | 5.08322015780649 | 2.656881504 | 1.39602834467734 | 5.714491727 |
| Nov 2021 | 5.697367815488 | 2.763602682 | 2.0424845765013 | 4.949828165 |
| Dec 2021 | 4.59705359451349 | 2.912657818 | 1.47677077364718 | 3.945519212 |
| Jan 2022 | 6.35097649895916 | 2.823560523 | 1.75472266174465 | 5.372329343 |
| Feb 2022 | 6.31571613814373 | 3.263407124 | 1.38990411889723 | 4.821746929 |
| Mar 2022 | 7.05735642688262 | 3.92411599399999 | 1.81784733581815 | 7.365247198 |
| X-axis label | EU 27 | Rest of World | UK | US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2020 | 2.37258910330785 | 1.90304221574073 | 2.25504487921772 | 1.1290342639743 |
| Nov 2020 | 3.4654586999679 | 2.65587162318089 | 2.12367670598949 | 1.09758476189086 |
| Dec 2020 | 3.34781189233554 | 2.04357618851646 | 2.12610105441498 | 1.48609245314246 |
| Jan 2021 | 2.22133359098184 | 2.0256179252737 | 0.95910887825586 | 1.23461466810489 |
| Feb 2021 | 2.2216363060796 | 2.04033558811691 | 1.13696280288407 | 1.24780358320128 |
| Mar 2021 | 3.22380420572407 | 2.68432034898914 | 1.70030859810158 | 1.61071404313418 |
| Apr 2021 | 2.81846802469977 | 2.70676447761457 | 1.48920057588016 | 1.23441473238069 |
| May 2021 | 3.4181288019952 | 2.34016251437405 | 1.55399712735357 | 1.44673599207556 |
| Jun 2021 | 3.68653775830562 | 3.1218809127626 | 1.77837455295666 | 1.30265117268739 |
| Jul 2021 | 2.79174376634401 | 2.20922841169683 | 1.45866757908514 | 1.33649898302701 |
| Aug 2021 | 2.14427927020579 | 2.4721595401711 | 1.62160550665421 | 1.58098693302229 |
| Sep 2021 | 2.54651358962204 | 2.54122398595268 | 1.73850218878597 | 1.63970763048317 |
| Oct 2021 | 2.6081409399254 | 2.7654912515775 | 1.90806826266179 | 1.57179060465675 |
| Nov 2021 | 3.30326769144714 | 3.29941521734655 | 1.90975994963745 | 1.55171638268088 |
| Dec 2021 | 3.31275530200272 | 3.14843526444838 | 2.16326877401528 | 2.17559744508009 |
| Jan 2022 | 2.70099557230142 | 3.25698529616598 | 2.12148056546555 | 1.22087599407626 |
| Feb 2022 | 2.77432301099801 | 2.90721116879513 | 1.91970168995771 | 1.21009613536096 |
| Mar 2022 | 3.02724542632632 | 4.13638324107097 | 2.33630880166157 | 1.53588840131484 |
Exports by industrial origin and Imports by main use
Industrial produce accounted for €19,084 million (95%) of total exports in March 2022. This is an increase of €5,218 million (+38%) when compared with March 2021. There was €7,330 million of this exported to the USA, €6,536 million to the EU, and €1,451 million to the UK. Agricultural produce accounted for €845 million (4%) of total exports (see Table 6).
Producer capital goods ready for use accounted for €1,389 million (13%) of total imports in March 2022, a decrease of €823 million (-37%) when compared with March 2021.
Consumption goods ready for use represented €2,426 million (22%) of total imports, and Materials for further production accounted for €6,989 million (63%) (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.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (16 May 2022) released Goods Exports and Imports March 2022.
Commenting on the release, Ciarán Counihan, Statistician, said: “In March 2022, Ireland’s unadjusted exports of goods exceeded €20 billion in a month for the first time. Imports exceeded €11 billion in March, also for the first time on record.
The increases in goods exports were driven mainly by growth in the exports of Medical and pharmaceutical products and Organic chemicals.
Imports from Great Britain grew by 39% to €1.9 billion in March, driven mainly by increases in the imports of Mineral fuels and Chemicals and related products.
It should be noted that the large growth rate in imports from Great Britain is partly explained by the relatively low level of imports in March 2021. March 2021 was the third month in which customs documentation was required for trade with Great Britain, which impacted on our trade with Great Britain.”