Latest Trade Figures demonstrate continuing dynamism of Irish Economy – Kitt "Irish exports highly competitive in global market"

Trade Minister Tom Kitt welcomed the CSO trade statistics which were released today (Monday 26th February 2001). The statistics demonstrate that Ireland’s exports and trade surplus are continuing to expand substantially.

The CSO figures show that the value of merchandise exports for the period January to October 2000 was £52.9 billion, an increase of 24% over the same period in 1999, when exports totalled £42.9 billion.

Significantly, exports to the end of October last year amounted to more than that for the full year in 1999. Exports in the month of October alone amounted to £6.1 billion. "These figures demonstrate the continuing dynamism of the Irish economy", commented Minister Kitt. "The growth in trade remains one of the most important underpinnings in our economic prosperity".

Imports in the first ten months of 2000 were also up, to £35.2 billion, an increase of 25% on the same period in 1999.

The trade surplus increased to £17.7 billion from £14.6 billion, an increase of 22%.

The Minister noted that the technical revision to the figures for 2000 provide a more accurate version of the statistics, but that they did not result in a significant revision of the overall growth figures.

Exports of organic chemicals (+49%), computers (+30%) and electrical machinery (+43%) were all significantly higher than in the previous year.

The United States (+34%), Great Britain (+24%) and the other EU countries (+15%) remain our most significant markets, with very substantial growth in each.

"Trade is continuing to be one of the powerhouses of the Irish economy," said Minister Kitt. "These statistics demonstrate that Ireland is continuing to make improvements in its trading position. Irish exports are highly competitive in the global market, and the statistics released today provide me with the assurance that they will continue to add substantially to the Irish economy."

Provisional figures indicate that exports in November 2000 amounted to £6.4 billion, giving a provisional trade surplus of £2.25 billion for that month.