Irish dairy props up export numbers

Meat and dairy exports from Ireland both saw significant growth, which helped to offset negative and flat growth from other categories such as fish, fruit and vegetables and animal feed, according to preliminary figures from the Central Statistics Office. Meat experienced 8% growth in March and a 7% increase in the first quarter (both year-to-year), while dairy recorded an 18% jump in March and a 19% increase in the first quarter (both year-to-year).

However, surplus in these categories was greatly affected by an almost equal rise in imports. Food and live animals imports rose by 1.8% in March and by 4.5% in the first quarter (both year-to-year). Meat imports fell by 1% in March, but rose by 11% for the quarter, while dairy imports rose by 18.8% in March and by 16% in the first quarter (both year-to-year).

Seasonally adjusted goods exports decreased by €531 million (-5%) to €10,373m in March 2018, while seasonally adjusted goods imports also decreased by €601m (-9%) to €6.3bn, leading to a slight increase of €70m (+2%) in the seasonally adjusted trade surplus to €4.029bn in March.

However, adjusted goods exports for the first quarter increased by 10% when compared to the previous quarter. Imports fell by 1% against the same period.

Ireland’s exports of food and live animals fell by 3% year-to-year in March, However, it was up marginally in the first quarter, by 0.8% year-to-year.

Ireland’s largest imported category was fruit and vegetables, which saw a 6.9% decrease in March, but experienced a marginal increase of 1% in the first quarter (both year-to-year).