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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

June 2020

Seasonally adjusted
€ million
 ExportsImportsSurplus
January 202013,5977,3656,232
February 202012,1158,1883,927
March 202017,0296,43410,595
April 202011,4655,8105,655
May 202012,8856,5806,305
June 202013,0336,4456,589

Seasonally adjusted exports increased by €149 million in June

Figure 1 Goods Exports and Imports June 2020
go to full release

Seasonally adjusted goods exports increased by €149 million (+1%) to €13,033 million in June 2020 compared with May 2020, according to preliminary figures.

Seasonally adjusted goods imports decreased by €135 million (-2%) to €6,445 million leading to an increase of €284 million (+5%) in the seasonally adjusted trade surplus to €6,589 million in June 2020 compared with the previous month (see Table 2).

Exports increase by €1.8 billion in June

The (unadjusted)* value of goods exports for June 2020 was €13,876 million representing an increase of €1,830 million (+15%) when compared with June 2019. The value of goods exports for the period January to June 2020 was €81,963 million, an increase of €5,866 million (+8%) when compared with the first six months of 2019.

Exports of Medical and pharmaceutical products increased by €1,681 million (+45%) to €5,450 million, accounting for 39% of total exports.

Exports of Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances increased by €99 million (+14%) to €792 million in June 2020 compared with June 2019.

Exports of Professional, scientific and controlling apparatus decreased by €149 million (-27%) to €397 million over the same comparative period (see Table 3).

Imports decrease by over €600 million in June

The (unadjusted) value of goods imports for June 2020 was €6,841 million, a decrease of €618 million (-8%) when compared with June 2019. The value of goods imports for January to June 2020 was €41,121 million, which is a decrease of €2,869 million (-7%) compared with the first half of 2019.

Imports of Other transport equipment, including aircraft decreased by €1,356 million (-60%) to €917 million in June 2020 compared with June 2019.

Imports of Organic chemicals increased by €200 million (+53%) to €581 million.

Imports of Articles of apparel and clothing accessories increased by €108 million (+75%) to €252 million (see Table 3).

The value of goods imports for June 2020 excluding SITC 79 (Other transport equipment, including aircraft) was €5,924 million, an increase of €737 million (+14%) when compared with the corresponding June 2019 figure of €5,187 million.

Exports to Great Britain valued at €900 million in June

Exports to Great Britain decreased by €199 million (-18%) to €897 million in June 2020 compared with June 2019. Exports to Great Britain accounted for 6% of total exports.

The value of goods exports to Great Britain in the first six months of 2020 was €5,837 million, a decrease of €960 million (-14%) compared with January to June of 2019.

Imports from Great Britain in June 2020 increased by €103 million (+8%) to €1,449 million compared with June 2019. Imports from Great Britain were 21% of the value of total imports in June 2020.

The value of goods imports from Great Britain for January to June 2020 was €8,894 million, a decrease of €244 million (-3%) compared with the first half of 2019 (see Table 4).

Geographic breakdown of goods exports and imports

The EU accounted for €6,025 million (43%) of total goods exports in June 2020 of which €1,853 million went to Germany and €1,602 million went to Belgium. Total EU exports in June increased by €1,384 million (+30%) compared with June 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 €3,473 million (25%) of total exports in June 2020.

The EU accounted for €2,490 million (36%) of total goods imports in June 2020, which is a decrease of €267 million (-10%) compared with June 2019.

The USA with €917 million (13%), and China with €570 million (8%) 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 €12,924 million (93%) of total exports in June 2020. This is an increase of €1,761 million (+16%) when compared with June 2019. There was €3,430 million of this exported to the USA, and €5,639 million to the EU. Agricultural produce accounted for €784 million (6%) of total exports (see Table 6).

Producer capital goods ready for use accounted for €1,376 million (20%) of total imports in June 2020, a decrease of €1,337 million (-49%) when compared with June 2019.

Consumption goods ready for use represented €1,797 million (26%) of total imports, and Materials for further production accounted for €3,494 million (51%) (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
2017122,78582,95639,829 135.8  168.9  99.3  96.1  103.3
2018140,64591,95248,693 156.2  189.2  99.1  99.5  99.6
2019152,49090,64961,841 168.5  192.7  99.5  96.6  103.0
         
2017Quarter 132,17920,98511,194 137.0  160.2  103.3  98.4  104.9
 Quarter 231,07721,7459,331 134.2  182.1  101.9  95.6  106.7
 Quarter 328,98318,55010,433 129.1  152.0  98.1  94.9  103.4
 Quarter 430,54621,6768,871 141.0  176.8  93.8  95.4  98.2
2018Quarter 133,84320,08813,755 152.3  172.2  97.9  95.9  102.1
 Quarter 235,55621,88013,676 161.5  184.3  96.8  97.6  99.3
 Quarter 334,16323,21410,949 148.2  181.9  101.4  104.0  97.6
 Quarter 437,08326,77010,313 163.2  218.7  100.2  100.3  99.9
2019Quarter 137,57021,83715,733 166.5  186.7  99.3  96.1  103.3
 Quarter 238,52722,15216,375 170.6  190.1  99.3  95.7  103.8
 Quarter 337,61821,99515,623 166.5  187.9  99.4  96.3  103.3
 Quarter 438,77524,66414,111 170.8  208.5  99.9  97.1  102.8
2020Quarter 143,63822,14421,494 194.8  189.7  98.3  96.0  102.4
 Quarter 238,32418,97619,348 172.9  163.6  97.4  95.1  102.4
         
2017January9,9077,1982,708 122.8  144.7  106.4  98.9  107.6
 February10,2356,5343,702 135.1  158.7  99.6  98.3  101.3
March12,0377,2534,784 153.0  177.2  103.9  98.1  105.8
April9,8636,8523,011 122.6  167.2  106.2  98.0  108.4
May10,5617,6202,941 139.3  193.4  100.0  94.7  105.7
June10,6537,2743,379 140.6  185.6  99.6  94.0  106.0
July9,1785,6863,492 117.4  140.2  103.2  95.1  108.5
August9,6176,3293,288 126.1  153.9  98.2  93.6  104.9
September10,1886,5343,654 143.8  161.8  93.0  96.1  96.8
October9,6457,0362,609 143.2  180.8  88.3  92.5  95.5
November10,8497,4243,425 151.6  187.0  95.0  96.0  98.9
December10,0537,2162,837 128.3  162.7  98.0  97.7  100.3
        
2018January12,1026,5385,565 159.6  168.8  100.1  95.4  104.9
 February10,4016,4233,978 138.1  163.8  99.4  96.7  102.8
 March11,3407,1284,212 159.1  183.9  94.1  95.5  98.5
 April10,9806,6034,377 155.4  160.9  93.4  101.1  92.4
 May11,8106,9244,886 160.1  182.1  97.4  93.7  103.9
 June12,7668,3524,413 168.9  209.9  99.7  98.1  101.7
 July11,0757,7183,357 144.6  179.8  101.1  105.8  95.6
 August11,5387,2464,293 152.9  176.4  99.6  100.9  98.7
 September11,5508,2503,300 147.1  189.4  103.6  105.2  98.4
 October12,2558,9903,265 164.1  216.5  98.6  100.8  97.8
 November12,9568,8694,087 173.5  219.8  98.9  99.6  99.3
 December11,8728,9112,961 152.1  219.9  103.2  100.6  102.5
      
20194January13,4847,6575,826 179.1  196.0  99.4  96.3  103.2
 February12,4126,5045,908 164.9  165.8  99.3  96.6  102.8
 March11,6747,6763,998 155.5  198.2  99.1  95.4  103.8
 April12,7877,3395,449 169.7  190.7  99.4  94.8  104.9
 May13,6947,3556,339 182.1  189.2  99.3  95.8  103.6
 June12,0467,4594,587 160.1  190.3  99.3  96.6  102.8
 July13,3607,9365,424 177.2  203.2  99.5  96.2  103.4
 August11,7556,7325,023 156.2  172.8  99.3  96.0  103.5
 September12,5047,3275,177 166.2  187.7  99.5  96.6  102.9
 October14,2868,6105,675 189.4  218.6  99.5  97.0  102.6
 November12,8377,7075,130 169.5  194.7  99.9  97.5  102.5
 December11,6528,3483,305 153.5  212.3  100.2  96.9  103.4
          
20204January14,9077,1457,763 195.6  180.4  100.6  97.6  103.0
 February11,7077,8913,815 162.9  207.6  94.8  93.7  101.3
 March17,0257,1089,917 225.9  181.1  99.4  96.6  102.9
 April11,4655,7335,732 159.8  148.5  94.7  94.6  100.1
 May12,9846,4036,581 174.2  166.1  98.4  95.0  103.6
 June13,8766,8417,035 184.8  176.3  99.1  95.6  103.6
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. June 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
2017Quarter 131,85221,17010,682 134.1  160.6
 Quarter 230,36621,7158,650 131.0  182.2
 Quarter 330,07419,70310,371 134.2  160.9
 Quarter 430,89020,42510,466 144.0  168.1
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 438,83923,12415,716 170.8  191.4
2020Quarter 142,74121,98720,753 188.5  190.6
 Quarter 237,38318,83518,548 169.8  165.2
      
2017January10,3317,4732,858 123.1  152.9
 February10,6867,0253,661 143.2  167.9
 March10,8346,6714,163 135.9  160.9
 April10,4127,2603,151 131.5  182.0
 May10,1577,4142,743 131.5  189.3
 June9,7977,0412,756 129.9  175.5
 July9,9736,1893,784 127.3  153.3
 August10,0386,7913,247 131.0  164.3
 September10,0626,7233,339 144.3  165.0
 October9,9706,6773,294 141.6  169.7
 November10,3056,8563,449 144.5  171.7
 December10,6156,8923,723 145.8  163.0
       
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
 October14,1587,8646,293 182.0  195.1
 November12,3707,5404,830 163.1  185.5
 December12,3127,7194,593 167.1  193.6
      
2020January13,5977,3656,232 183.3  192.0
 February12,1158,1883,927 171.6  213.3
 March17,0296,43410,595 210.5  166.4
 April11,4655,8105,655 158.7  157.8
May12,8856,5806,305 177.3  171.7
 June13,0336,4456,589 173.5  166.1
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
JunJunJan-JunJan-JunJunJunJan-JunJan-Jun
20192020201920202019202020192020
0Food and live animals1,0101,0575,6865,6765956353,7773,879
00Live animals other than animals of Division 033226142104102356133
01Meat and meat preparations3373191,9221,8098469494441
02Dairy products and birds' eggs2983281,3801,4336973440491
03Fish, crustaceans, molluscs and preparations thereof44533242902323149148
04Cereals and cereal preparations40432652659088648565
05Vegetables and fruit2628155155115122671682
06Sugars, sugar preparations and honey13972612734184209
07Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manufactures thereof28372062244448313306
08Feeding stuff for animals (excluding unmilled cereals)29351811917495441505
09Miscellaneous edible products and preparations1621781,0381,1435860381398
1Beverages and tobacco1019272860075100454477
11Beverages 101927285997394423449
12Tobacco and tobacco manufactures0000263128
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels13110790368786100539498
21Hides, skins and furskins, raw6539260000
22Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits 1086221511
23Crude rubber (including synthetic and reclaimed) 00101164
24Cork and wood161697832134109101
25Pulp and waste paper432619763631
26Textile fibres and their wastes10866541186
27Crude fertilisers and minerals (excluding coal, petroleum and precious stones)139726115179781
28Metalliferous ores and metal scrap72575293832218130115
29Crude animal and vegetable materials nes91064561721139149
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials19524033893332942,6782,579
32Coal, coke and briquettes786558532932
33Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials6393023022712072,0281,743
34Gas, natural and manufactured11375281556771
35Electric current643422536633
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes7835431926132147
41Animal oils and fats6729381278
42Fixed vegetable fats and oils11551622114126
43Animal or vegetable fats and oils, processed; waxes0010221113
5Chemicals and related products7,6209,47347,51954,2781,3121,6318,25110,315
51Organic chemicals2,7102,88016,71117,1283815811,9523,991
52Inorganic chemicals21241101711927159168
53Dyeing, tanning and colouring materials9867501722127126
54Medical and pharmaceutical products3,7705,45023,99530,6195586463,6523,836
55Essential oils; perfume materials; toilet and cleansing preparations6757004,0684,09810198671600
56Fertilisers (other than those of Division 27)11753532307264
57Plastics in primary forms43372332037575488431
58Plastics in non-primary forms47402562855864388368
59Chemical materials and products nes3463332,0721,7176985508530
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material1851911,1621,1054714843,0072,801
61Leather; leather manufactures nes; dressed furskins33131421108
62Rubber manufactures nes9952512928190171
63Cork and wood manufactures (excluding furniture)24201521202825162140
64Paper, paperboard and articles thereof131387798075493478
65Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related products131380764686277369
66Non-metallic mineral manufactures nes39422341995355317293
67Iron and steel161293787261478376
68Non-ferrous metals13770484539310268
69Manufactures of metals nes5572381440115116770697
7Machinery and transport equipment1,5921,72711,17611,5493,7012,44719,70214,558
71Power generating machinery and equipment579340756197129585647
72Machinery specialised for particular industries5452364361145138897854
73Metalworking machinery24131412106964
74General industrial machinery and equipment nes and parts nes1801281,042860146185949936
75Office machines and automatic data processing machines (including computers)3613642,4042,3823924232,6292,564
76Telecommunications and sound equipment132100741636158172935920
77Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances nes and parts6937923,6084,8982032601,4351,469
78Road vehicles (including air-cushion vehicles)32301881692742132,0031,596
79Other transport equipment (including aircraft)821622,4081,6682,27391710,1985,507
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles1,2981,0718,0007,1586899454,3884,882
81Prefab buildings; plumbing and electrical fixtures and fittings111266582621154122
82Furniture and parts thereof; bedding, cushions etc1613109974439290249
83Travel goods, handbags and similar containers4319171497759
84Articles of apparel; clothing accessories2517114831442529211,068
85Footwear3218133832221198
87Professional, scientific and controlling apparatus nes5463973,3802,9471451919411,131
88Photographic apparatus; optical goods; watches and clocks108797026502942214273
89Miscellaneous manufactured articles nes5855493,5933,2932503601,5711,783
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere3211172982423159144
Unclassified estimates25286313378153156902840
           
Total12,04613,87676,09781,9637,4596,84143,99041,121
1 Trade statistics revised since 2000. June 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
JunJunJan-JunJan-JunJunJunJan-JunJan-Jun
20192020201920202019202020192020
Austria35221902042828173141
Belgium1,3031,6028,9489,1321331228181,036
Bulgaria13126870331822
Croatia453124111010
Cyprus1329160012
Czech Republic31373221985360337340
Denmark61633273173950266278
Estonia21981186
Finland2426148137142410689
France3934302,7472,6301,2666745,6233,455
Germany1,0831,8536,5538,8684856563,7793,237
Greece97249352839663833
Hungary 2824152124302692163
Italy 2794151,8842,218106161677802
Latvia633231342525
Lithuania231721966847
Luxembourg564253442021
Malta4421181174
Netherlands7926614,2094,2202462611,5791,608
Poland821135705585960412399
Portugal39262251812022127135
Romania32391961939155850
Slovakia894952442821
Slovenia14236481431816
Spain2103041,1841,30312196737669
Sweden83594714025747362285
EU Country not specified21131255274571566631,315
Total EU2734,6416,02529,09332,1732,7572,49016,05014,208
Euro-Zone44,2975,64226,70130,0132,4482,07213,83211,347
         
Great Britain1,0978976,7975,8371,3461,4499,1388,894
Northern Ireland1591821,055979127115802751
Total UK1,2551,0807,8526,8171,4731,5659,9409,645
         
Australia6190367458674952
Brazil141514813614139284
Canada1572186929804952334251
China56841,3964,1305,7333555702,4642,818
India29302101744632342253
Japan2592611,3631,5859388604626
Malaysia20191041153682303257
Mexico128907489382830185200
Norway13251141292647297264
Russia47313412392715266186
Saudi Arabia7437356338011315
Singapore43412662793524168305
South Africa272317613613106053
South Korea5110028036690109448469
Switzerland5892713,4481,5082093547102,482
Taiwan33601712924138248244
Thailand81056633235211194
Turkey37463953805437356301
USA3,4893,47322,29224,9301,0899177,4936,006
Other countries3734322,2583,1901902181,1771,206
Country unknown6121021,2351,003797982,1891,005
Total Non-EU (excl UK)6,1506,77139,15142,9733,2292,78618,00017,268
         
Total12,04613,87676,09781,9637,4596,84143,99041,121
1 Trade statistics revised since 2000. June 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 SITCJunJunJan-JunJan-JunJunJunJan-JunJan-Jun
20192020201920202019202020192020
Great Britain and Northern Ireland1,2551,0807,8526,8171,4731,5659,9409,645
0Food and live animals3613822,2252,0532883031,8241,768
1Beverages and tobacco24221461173545204202
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels41352612052426155135
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials12132011581711991,3191,696
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes231313452933
5Chemicals and related products3722672,3031,8561692151,3611,169
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material101896415071931941,1731,126
7Machinery and transport equipment1931351,1241,0703152962,1871,854
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles114957316201852181,1471,252
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere35392092199063540410
EU 274,6416,02529,09332,1732,7572,49016,05014,208
0Food and live animals3943731,9881,9191982131,2771,426
1Beverages and tobacco27251851652839171192
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels56484103132434156148
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials71636857617463261
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes34182510147481
5Chemicals and related products3,1884,62620,08823,7054555293,0133,398
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material5152317332148147987838
7Machinery and transport equipment4364733,1502,9321,6001,2288,6086,452
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles4533542,7552,510151173928964
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere25541451876596371448
USA3,4893,47322,29224,9301,0899177,4936,006
0Food and live animals38391821932020120109
1Beverages and tobacco35303062311188
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels21149443528
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials0013707035492413
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes--000010
5Chemicals and related products2,6442,80316,49720,2182923581,8761,960
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material1335891633536211216
7Machinery and transport equipment2482351,9101,7385663604,0342,599
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles5043283,1322,3599297652628
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere422518856346
China36841,3964,1305,7333555702,4642,818
0Food and live animals7770437433452730
1Beverages and tobacco01240002
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels442221231817
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials0-100000
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes00220000
5Chemicals and related products797059431,3741954187235
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material2213164371262345
7Machinery and transport equipment4804932,4453,4001722111,2681,315
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles41122265483110220664842
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere0000653733
Rest of World1,9771,90212,72912,3101,7861,2998,0448,444
0Food and live animals1401938531,0798495529546
1Beverages and tobacco1515898311147073
2Crude materials, inedible, except fuels28191961403333175171
3Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials023291461642404210
4Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes0123572833
5Chemicals and related products1,3371,0727,6897,1243784761,8133,554
6Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material1714102875235374276
7Machinery and transport equipment2343912,5462,4091,0483513,6042,338
8Miscellaneous manufactured articles1851731,1171,1851512379971,196
9Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere20110553995047
         
Total12,04613,87676,09781,9637,4596,84143,99041,121
1 Trade statistics revised since 2000. June 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
JunJunJan-JunJan-Jun
2019202020192020
Agricultural produce7657843,9993,933
Great Britain and Northern Ireland2742821,6541,449
EU13282981,5621,483
USA4042182203
Rest of World122162601799
     
Forestry and fishing produce6070424376
Great Britain and Northern Ireland2120124107
EU13134195162
USA0011
Rest of World815104106
     
Industrial produce11,16312,92471,31677,189
Great Britain and Northern Ireland9227355,8445,023
EU14,2635,63927,21730,350
USA3,4483,43022,10624,722
Rest of World2,5303,12016,15017,093
     
Unclassified exports5898358464
     
Total12,04613,87676,09781,963
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
JunJunJan-JunJan-Jun
2019202020192020
Producers capital goods ready for use2,7131,37613,1298,406
Great Britain and Northern Ireland136157903984
EU11,2888946,5574,468
USA4151753,0961,494
Rest of World8741502,5731,460
     
Consumption goods ready for use - food drink and tobacco5205523,2363,240
Great Britain and Northern Ireland2712831,6981,608
EU11902101,1951,287
USA552624
Rest of World5555317321
Consumption goods ready for use - other1,0731,2457,4027,348
Great Britain and Northern Ireland3313452,1892,096
EU12843241,9832,051
USA1531551,198916
Rest of World3054212,0322,286
     
Materials for further production - agriculture1742051,2311,235
Great Britain and Northern Ireland3754285291
EU15364446449
USA3524192138
Rest of World4964309356
Materials for further production - other2,8073,28917,95819,936
Great Britain and Northern Ireland6096624,3244,254
EU18769025,4975,504
USA4765562,9333,404
Rest of World8461,1685,2046,775
     
Unclassified imports1731741,033954
     
Total7,4596,84143,99041,121
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 (May 2020 in this publication), -4 (February 2020) and -8 (October 2019) 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 June 2020 was 63%, covering an estimated 88% of the total value of intra-EU trade (these response rates will have increased by the next time data for June 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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