Yahoo Finance Despite Brexit, Irish exports to UK jumped 12% in March
In a sign that Brexit worries aren’t weighing too heavily, Ireland’s exports to Great Britain increased by 12% in March to €1.25bn (£1.1bn) compared to the same month last year.
Ireland’s statistics agency said on Wednesday that the boost primarily came from increases in exports of mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials. Exports to Great Britain accounted for 11% of total exports.
Meanwhile, imports from Great Britain also increased by 9%, to €1.71bn, in March. Imports of machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, and food and live animals were the primary drivers of the increase.
Trade with Northern Ireland, which is broken out in the data separately, also climbed, with both imports and exports rising by 9%.
While the UK is Ireland’s largest trading partner, 50% of all exports in March went to the EU, with €1.2bn going to Belgium and €822m going to the Netherlands. Some 28% of total exports went to the US.
In general, exports from Ireland jumped by nearly €440m compared to March 2018, reflecting a general trend seen in the first quarter.
The data comes a day after Unite’s general secretary Len McCluskey said in Dublin that Brexit had been “bungled” and had already been hugely damaging to Ireland’s economy.
“We know the impact this bungled Brexit has had on the economy across all parts of Ireland. The last two years of Tory Brexit chaos have been hugely detrimental to Northern Ireland’s economy in particular,” he said.
