New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that Irish unadjusted exports of goods decreased by €1.2 billion to €16.7 billion in May compared to the same time last year.
When seasonally adjusted, exports of goods fell by more than €400m in May from the previous month.
Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products decreased by -8% to €6,493 million in May 2023 compared with May of last year. This represented 39% of total exports.
Exports of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances fell by -36% to €795 million.
Meanwhile, the unadjusted imports for May were valued at €11.6 billion, down €1.6 billion on the same month last year. Seasonally adjusted imports were €11.3 billion in May, the CSO said.
Comparing the first five months of 2023 with the same time in 2022, the CSO said the value of exports were down 6%, and the value of imports increased by 5%.
The CSO noted that imports from Great Britain fell by 34% to €1.3 billion in May of this year compared to May 2022, with the biggest decrease seen in the imports of Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials which fell by 53%.
But exports to Great Britain grew by 19% to €1.6 billion in May 2023 from the same time last year.
The EU accounted for €6.942 billion (42%) of total goods exports in May 2023, of which €1.818 billion went to Germany, €1.450 billion went to the Netherlands and €1.334 billion went to Belgium.
The US was the main non-EU destination accounting for €4.175 billion or 25% of total exports in May of this year.
Article Source: Exports slow by €1.2 billion in May – CSO – RTE
