A surge in pharma exports saw the value of Ireland’s export trade climb an all-time high in April.
Provisional figures from the Central Satistics Office (CSO) show seasonally adjusted exports for April rose by €989 million (12 per cent) to €9.3 billion.
This represented the highest monthly figure in the history of the series and underscores the strength of Ireland’s current economic recovery.
The primary driver was a €1.05 billion (63 per cent) increase in exports of medical and pharmaceutical products, which totalled €2.7 billion in April.
The increase was linked to the launch of new product lines in the wake of the “patent cliff” and favourable currency moves.
The exports of organic chemicals also increased by €560 million or 40 per cent in April.
The latest figures show there were notable gains for eight of the 10 commodity groups, with exports of machinery and trasnport equipment up 19 per cent to €3.6 billion year on year.
The EU accounted for €4.7 billion or 51 per cent of total exports in April, of which 15 per cent went to Belgium.
Antwerp is one of the largest global drug redistribution hubs and receives most of the State’s pharma exports which are not destined for the US.
The US was the main non-EU destination accounting for 24 per cent or (€2.2 billion of total exports in April.
Combined with a decrease in seasonally adjusted imports for April of €279 million (-6 per cent), the figures show the State’s trade surpuls rose €1.3 billion to €4.6 billion.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton said: “Export growth has a direct impact in the form of job-creation, and the significant jobs announcement by seven exporting companies supported by my Department provides a tangible example of this.”
Investec economist Philip O'Sullivan said: "While the headline figures can be distorted by the multinational sector - and the barnstorming performance by the chemicals sector is certainly flattering these results - favourable currency moves and the improving prospects for many key trading partners are providing decent tailwinds for many Irish exporters at this time."
Mr O’Sullivan also noted that from next month onwards the figures will record the purchase of aircraft by leasing companies resident in Ireland as imports
“Given that more than half of the world’s leased commercial aircraft are leased from Ireland, this will have a significant impact on this series, although the new methodology will have little or no effect generally on GDP or GNP as the net increase to imports in the national accounts will be offset by an increase in capital formation,” he said.
Merrion economist Alan McQuaid said: “The weak euro will be clearly beneficial for a huge exporting country like Ireland, as will the close trading ties with both the US and UK, two of the better performers on the global economic stage in 2014.”
“And the indications are that these two key economies will perform well again in 2015. Competitiveness gains made against the rest of Euroland in recent years have also helped Irish exporters,” he said.
