The value of seasonally adjusted goods imports increased by €731 million, up 9%, to €8,534 million in September 2018, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The value of goods exports increased by 1%, €69 million, to €11.4 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis.
This means that there was a €662 million decrease, 18%, in the seasonally adjusted trade surplus to €2,963 million in September 2018.
Exports
In September, the value of exports increased by €1.15 billion to €11.34 billion, an 11% increase compared to the same period in 2017.
In the first nine months of the year, the value of exports increased by 12%, rising by €11.24 billion to €103 billion.
Exports of Food and live animals fell by €110 million, or 11%, to €913 million in September 2018, compared to September in 2017.
The value of Beverages and Tobacco imports increased by 6% to €139 million in September, and by 3% for the first nine months of 2018 to just over €1 billion.
Imports
The value of imported goods increased by 28% to €8 billion, increasing by €1.7 billion in September compared to the same period in 2017.
The value of goods imports for the period January to September 2018 was €65.4 billion, an increase of €7 billion, 12%, when compared with the first three quarters of 2017.
Imports of Food and live animals increased by 4% to €632 million for the month of September. For the first nine months of the year, it increased by 7% to €5.6 billion.
Imports of Beverages and Tobacco fell by 17% to €84 million in September, while the value of imports for the first nine months of the year fell by 5.6% to €630 million.
Great Britain
Exports to Great Britain accounted for 11% of total exports in September 2018, with Food and live animals accounting for €352 million of which.
However, exports to the market fell by €65 million, down 5%, to €1.3 billion in September, driven by the decrease in exports of Food and live animals.
For the period January to September 2018, exports fell €10 billion, down 5% compared with January to September 2017.
Imports from Great Britain comprised 18% of total imports in September 2018, with Food and live animals accounting for €247 million.
Imports from Great Britain increased by €8 million, just 0.6%, for the month of September, while imports increased by 4% from January to September, reaching just over €13 billion.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
