The value of Irish goods exports in 2024 was up by 14%, a significant milestone as a potential US trade war looms.
Irish exports were valued at a record €223.8 billion last year, with medical and pharmaceutical products contributing heavily to the total.
Compared to 2023, the value of exports was up 14%, Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Monday.
Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products, meanwhile, rose by 29% to €99.9bn.
They therefore accounted for 45% of goods sent overseas.
US Irish trade
The figures arrive at a politically significant time, as US President Trump looks to impose tariffs on global trading partners.
The President has notably taken umbrage with his country’s trade deficit, suggesting that countries which register a surplus with the US are exploiting the nation.
The US trade deficit in goods, meaning the difference in value between goods exported and imported, hit a record $1.2 trillion (€1.1tn) last year.
Economists argue that this imbalance can be explained by the strength of the US dollar compared to other countries, meaning that imports are relatively cheap for US buyers.
US exports, on the other hand, are more expensive for overseas buyers when the dollar is strong.
The value of Irish goods sent to the US was €72.6bn in 2024, a 34% increase compared to the previous year.
Imports of goods from the US to Ireland amounted to €22.5bn, an annual decrease of 2%.
Donald Trump, after imposing a 10% tariff on Chinese goods, has now instructed his staff to develop custom tariffs for each trading partner, which could be ready at the start of April.
Multinational magnet
An area of particular concern for Ireland is its pharmaceutical industry, as major firms such as Pfizer manufacture drugs in Ireland and export them back to the US.
This has allowed companies to benefit from Ireland’s low tax environment, although it means the US Treasury loses out on these revenues.
Some believe that Donald Trump will try to coax major multinationals back to the US.
Others underline that significant incentives must be created to encourage such a move.
It’s also key to note that while Monday’s release focuses on goods, Ireland imports a large amount of services from the US, worth €186.6bn in 2023.
Ireland imports far more services from the US than the US imports from Ireland.
One reason for this is that US firms operating in Ireland pay their parent companies to use their intellectual property.
Also on Monday, Ireland’s CSO noted that the EU accounted for €5.6bn, or 36%, of total goods exports in December 2024.
Exports worth €1.7bn went to the Netherlands, €975m went to Germany and €774.3m went to France.
