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Ireland's goods exports up 25 pct year-on-year

Xinhua, September 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

Ireland's export values for July this year amounted to over 9 billion euros (10.18 billion U.S. dollars), up 25 percent compared with the same month last year, according to official figures Monday.

The figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that the main drivers behind this increase were exports of medical and pharmaceutical products, up by 1.1 billion euros to 2.8 billion euros and exports of organic chemicals, increasing by 389 million euros to 1.4 billion euros.

The figures also showed that for the period of January to July this year, the total value of goods exports was up 11.3 billion euros, or 22 percent, compared to the same seven-month period last year.

Alan McQuaid, chief economist with the Dublin-headquartered Merrion Stockbrokers, said Ireland's trade performance had benefited from gains made in competitiveness against its main partners and by the weakening of the euro, particularly against sterling and the dollar.

"Last year saw very strong growth in Irish exports, but it will be difficult to increase and actually maintain market share in an ever-more competitive environment even with the benefit of a sharply weaker euro. That said, Irish exporters should continue to perform well on a relative basis," he said.

The European Union (EU) accounted for 56 percent of Ireland's total goods exports in July. Belgium was Ireland's biggest trading partner in the EU in the month, followed by Britain.

The United States was the main non-EU destination accounting for 1.8 billion euros, or 20 percent, of total exports in July. Enditem