Back to Top

 Skip navigation

Background Notes

Open in Excel:

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.

The data for this publication is taken from the same sources as the regular monthly Goods Exports and Imports releases. 

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 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.

The data for this publication is taken from the same sources as the regular monthly Goods Exports and Imports releases. 

For more information on the Intrastat and Extrastat systems, see the Methods page for External Trade statistics on the CSO website. 

Extra-Stat, Collection Of Non-EU Trade Data

Classifications of goods

The classifications for the individual products detailed in this publication are taken from the Combined Nomenclature (CN) list of codes.  This is a systematic list of commodities applied by most trading nations which classifies products at a detailed level.  The CN codes are used to classify most goods when they are declared to customs in the EU, and they are also used for intra-EU trade statistics.

For a full list of 8-digit CN classifications, see

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2018.273.01.0001.01.ENG&toc=OJ:L:2018:273:TOC

While care has been taken to correctly include all goods in this publication to their relevant aggregated product name, there may, on occasion, be minor omissions or exclusions.  This should not detract from the overall trends and data published. 

Regional data

Below is a list of countries included in the respective regions described in this publication.  Any country not listed comprises part of the Rest of the World category.

Africa

Algeria

Angola

Benin

Botswana

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Cape Verde

Central African Republic

Chad

Comoros

Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Cote d'Ivoire

Djibouti

Egypt

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Gabon

Gambia

Ghana

Guinea

Guinea Bissau

Kenya

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Madagascar

Malawi

Mali

Mauritania

Mauritius

Morocco

Mozambique

Namibia

Niger

Nigeria

Rwanda

Sao Tome and Principe

Senegal

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Somalia

South Africa

South Sudan

Sudan

Swaziland

Tanzania

Togo

Tunisia

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Asia

Afghanistan

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Bhutan

Brunei Darussalam

Cambodia

China

Georgia

Hong Kong

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Israel

Japan

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kuwait

Kyrgyz Republic

Laos

Lebanon

Malaysia

Maldives

Mongolia

Myanmar

Nepal

Occupied Palestinian Territories

Oman

Pakistan

Philippines

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

South Korea

Sri Lanka

Syria

Taiwan

Tajikistan

Thailand

Timor-Leste

Turkey

Turkmenistan

United Arab Emirates

Uzbekistan

Vietnam

Yemen

European Union

Austria

Belgium

Bulgaria

Croatia

Cyprus

Czechia

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Italy

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Netherlands

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Europe Non-EU

Albania

Andorra

Belarus

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Holy See

Iceland

Liechtenstein

Moldova

Montenegro

Norway

Russia Federation

San Marino

Serbia

Switzerland

Ukraine

North and Central America

Antigua and Barbuda

Bahamas

Barbados

Belize

Canada

Costa Rica

Cuba

Dominica

Dominican Republic

El Salvador

Grenada

Guatemala

Haiti

Honduras

Jamaica

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

St Kitt and Nevis

St Lucia

St Vincent and Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago

USA

Oceania

Australia

Fiji

Kiribati

Marshall Islands

Federated States of Micronesia

Nauru

New Zealand

Palau

Papua New Guinea

Samoa

Solomon Islands

Tonga

Tuvalu

Vanuatu

South America

Argentina

Bolivia

Brazil

Chile

Colombia

Ecuador

Guyana

Paraguay

Peru

Suriname

Uruguay

Venezuela

United Kingdom

Great Britain

Northern Ireland

Go to Contact Details