The value of goods imported from Great Britain to Ireland fell by 34% to 1.3 billion euro in May compared with the previous 12 months, according to Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures.
According to the data, published on Monday, exports to Great Britain grew by 19% to 1.6 billion euro in the same time period.
The total value of exports to Great Britain is 10%, while the total value of imports from Great Britain is 11%, according to the CSO.
Director in tax at Grant Thornton Ireland Janette Maxwell said the figures indicated that “the British market continues to heavily rely on the Irish market for sourcing its supplies”.
The largest decrease in imports from Great Britain to Ireland was in the mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials sectors, which fell in value by 53% to 298 million euro.
The products which accounted for the largest share of exports to Great Britain in May were chemicals and related products at 700 million euro and food and live animals worth 339 million euro.
The EU accounted for 6.9 billion euro of total goods exports in May, or 42% – with 1.8 billion euro worth of goods going to Germany, 1.5 billion euro to the Netherlands and 1.3 billion euro to Belgium.
The US was the main non-EU destination, accounting for 4.2 billion euro, or 25%, of total exports in May 2023.
Ireland’s total value of exported goods was worth 16.7 billion euro, a decrease of 1.2 billion euro compared with May last year.
The value of imported goods was 11.6 billion euro in May – which represents a fall of 1.6 billion euro or 12% on May 2022.
When the first five months of 2023 are compared with the same period in 2022, exports of goods were down 6%, while the value of imports increased by 5%.
Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products decreased by 595 million euro to in May 2023 compared with 12 months previous, and represents 39% of total exports.
