The export of goods from January to June this year were valued at €107bn, the CSO reported today.
Exports of chemicals jumped by €3.7bn in the first six months of the year compared with the same period in 2023, the data showed.
The CSO reported that exports of medical and pharmaceutical products were down 7pc in June.
Exports of these products, which accounted for 39pc of the total, stood at €6.5bn.
Organic chemicals exports plunged 27pc to €2.5bn in the same month, while exports of food and live animals also declined by 8pc to €1.3bn.
However, exports of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances soared by 56pc in June to reach €985m.
The newly published data also showed exports to Britain were €1.1bn in June, accounting for 7pc of the total.
Food and live animals represented the largest share of exports to this market, followed by machinery and transport equipment.
Overall, exports to this market have fallen 13pc in the first six months of 2024.
“Despite the slightly disappointing headline export performance, it is still quite encouraging that traditional exports from the food and beverage sectors to UK are marginally ahead year on year, particularly when increased border friction and continued subdued consumer sentiment in this key market is taken into account,” BDO partner Carol Lynch said.
She also pointed to a slump in exports of chemicals to this market compared with the US.
“The value of exports fell by €1.164bn relative to June 2023. By contrast, the value of exports of chemicals and related goods to the USA was identical when compared with June 2023,” she said.
“On a year-on-year basis, though, the value of chemicals and related products exports to the UK has seen a considerable decline relative to 2023 – exports to the USA have increased in value by €5.75bn,” she added.
Ms Lynch pointed to the “flexibility” of the Irish pharma sector as it moves away from the production of Covid vaccines to other products.
Exports to countries in the European Union accounted for 37pc of the total, valued at €6n.
The CSO reported that over €1.4bn worth of goods headed to the Netherlands, while a further €1.36bn went to Belgium.
The CSO reported that exports to the United States were €5.7bn, or 34pc of the total. Total exports to this market are up 23pc in the first half of 2024.
Overall, seasonally adjusted goods exports were €16.9bn in June, down 2pc from May.
The report also revealed that goods imports dropped 8pc in the first half of this year.
Unadjusted goods imports stood at €11.8bn, down €700m from the same month a year earlier.
Seasonally adjusted goods imports for May were up €868m to €11.6bn.
Imports of organic chemicals plummeted 71pc year-on-year to €1.4bn, while imports from Britain, which represented 13pc of the total, were €1.5bn in May.
This was down from €1.7bn a month earlier.
Overall, Ireland’s seasonally adjusted trade surplus was €5.3bn for the month, down 18pc from May.
