International Trade

International Trade

Exports of goods and services represent the value of all goods and other market services provided to the rest of the world from an economy. The relative openness of an economy is generally measured by: the ratio of exports of goods and services from an economy, to the level of GDP in that economy.

Short-term Trends

InternationalTrade_Q1_2017

Exports and Imports of Goods and Services & Trade Surplus

Source: CSO - Balance of International Payments

Long-term Trends

According to World Bank 2015 data, Ireland ranks as the 4th most open economy in the world, with a 121.4% ratio of exports of goods and services to GDP, following Luxembourg,Hong Kong and Singapore.

Overall merchandise and services exports amounted to over €318.8 billion in 2016 with imports to the value of €257.2 billion leaving a trade surplus of over €61.6 billion in goods and services.

Service exports are an important contributor to the overall export performance of the Irish economy. In 2016 service exports amounted to €132.6bn where international financial services related activities accounted for around 8.5% of all service exports from Ireland.”

International_Trade_2016

Exports and Imports of Goods and Services & Trade Surplus

Source: CSO - Balance of International Payments