Several large aircraft leasing transactions saw the value of Irish goods imports jump by nearly 10 per cent to €8.5 billion in September. This saw the State’s trade surplus, the value of exports over imports, fall by 18 per cent to just under €3 billion.
While the monthly trade numbers can be volatile, the underlying trends remain positive.
The latest figures show imports of “other transport equipment”, which includes aircraft, increased by €919 million to €2.4 billion. This accounted for more than half of the jump in imports.
Ireland is a global hub for aircraft leasing, with approximately 4,000 commercial aircraft leased through companies here, representing a total value of $115 billion. Recent changes to accounting conventions mean the purchases of aircraft are included as imports in the national accounts compiled by the Central Statistics Office.
The latest trade figures also show imports of medical and pharmaceutical products increased by €508 million or 82 per cent to €1.1 billion, while imports of office machines and automatic data-processing machines also rose.
The value of exports rose by 1 per cent to €11.5 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The value of goods exports for the period January to September 2018 was €103 billion, an increase of €11.2 billion when compared with the first nine months of 2017.
The biggest category of goods exports in September was medical and pharmaceutical products. Exports of these goods accounted for a third (33 per cent ) of total goods exports.
Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products increased by €854 million (29 per cent) to €3.7 billion in September.
