DUBLIN, Ireland, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) — Ireland is set for another year of record-high goods exports in 2020 due to a surge in its exported pharmaceutical products, said an analyst of a financial services company on Friday.
In a note sent via e-mail to clients, Ronan Dunphy, an economic and equity research analyst with the Dublin-based Investec Europe, quoted Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) as saying that the country’s goods exports reached 14.05 billion euros (about 16.5 billion U.S. dollars) on a seasonally-adjusted basis in August.
This is the second month in the year in which the country’s monthly goods exports had topped 14 billion euros, said Dunphy, adding that Ireland’s total goods exports increased by nearly 7 percent to 108 billion euros in the first eight months of this year when compared with the corresponding period of last year.
In March, Ireland exported nearly 17.1 billion euros worth of goods, setting a monthly record in the country’s export history, according to the CSO.
“The pharma industry is the driving force behind the ongoing growth with exports of Medical and Pharma Products up 24 percent year-on-year in the year to date,” said Dunphy, adding that “exports in the broader Chemicals and Related Products category accounted for 66 percent of all goods exports in the first eight months, up from 62 percent last year.”
“Bolstered by a surge in pharma products Ireland is set for another year of record goods exports, in what would be the seventh successive year that a new record was reached,” the analyst further noted, adding that “this would be in stark contrast to almost all other developed countries whose export sectors have been hit by falls in trade activity.”
Despite the export growth, Ireland’s goods imports saw a 10-percent decrease in August and a 6-percent decrease in the first eight months of this year when compared with a year ago, according to the latest unadjusted figures released by the CSO.
Ireland’s total goods imports were valued at 6.03 billion euros in August and 55.4 billion euros in the first eight months of this year.
The European Union (EU) was the largest market both for Ireland’s exported and imported goods, accounting for 38 percent and 36 percent respectively of the country’s total goods exports and imports in August based on the calculation of the CSO unadjusted figures.
The United States was the main non-EU destination for the Irish exported goods, accounting for 33 percent of Ireland’s total exports in August while Britain, the United States and China were the main non-EU sources of the goods imported by Ireland, accounting for 24 percent, 15 percent and 8 percent respectively of the country’s total imports in August, according to the CSO. (1 euro = 1.17 U.S. dollars)
