About

Overview In 2022, Ireland was the number 26 economy in the world in terms of GDP (current US$), the number 31 in total exports, the number 36 in total imports, the number 4 economy in terms of GDP per capita (current US$) and the number 16 most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI) .

Exports The top exports of Ireland are Vaccines, blood, antisera, toxins and cultures ($47.3B), Packaged Medicaments ($34.8B), Nitrogen Heterocyclic Compounds ($24.4B), Integrated Circuits ($15.4B), and Scented Mixtures ($10.4B), exporting mostly to United States ($70.7B), Germany ($28.6B), United Kingdom ($19B), Belgium ($17B), and China ($16.7B).

In 2022, Ireland was the world's biggest exporter of Vaccines, blood, antisera, toxins and cultures ($47.3B), Nitrogen Heterocyclic Compounds ($24.4B), Scented Mixtures ($10.4B), Nucleic Acids ($9.45B), and Hormones ($7.02B)

Imports The top imports of Ireland are Planes, Helicopters, and/or Spacecraft ($8.23B), Nitrogen Heterocyclic Compounds ($8.17B), Refined Petroleum ($5.6B), Petroleum Gas ($5.04B), and Vaccines, blood, antisera, toxins and cultures ($5.04B), importing mostly from United Kingdom ($32.6B), United States ($20.5B), Germany ($11.1B), China ($8.11B), and Netherlands ($7.03B).

In 2022, Ireland was the world's biggest importer of Cyclic Alcohols ($1.32B)

Location Ireland borders United Kingdom by land.

Latest Trends

December, 2023

Historical Data

Yearly Trade

Flow
Color
Depth
Top Destination (2022)United States$70.7B

In 2022, Ireland exported a total of $236B, making it the number 31 exporter in the world. During the last five reported years the exports of Ireland have changed by $75.9B from $161B in 2017 to $236B in 2022.

The most recent exports are led by Vaccines, blood, antisera, toxins and cultures ($47.3B), Packaged Medicaments ($34.8B), Nitrogen Heterocyclic Compounds ($24.4B), Integrated Circuits ($15.4B), and Scented Mixtures ($10.4B). The most common destination for the exports of Ireland are United States ($70.7B), Germany ($28.6B), United Kingdom ($19B), Belgium ($17B), and China ($16.7B).

Explore Visualizations

Exports (2022)
[Click to Select a Product]

Destinations (2022)
[Click to Select a Country]

Market Growth

Flow
View
Fastest Growing Export Markets (2021 - 2022)
United States$10.3B (+ 17.1%)
Germany$5.54B (+ 24.1%)
Belgium$3.41B (+ 25.1%)
Fastest Growing Import Markets (2021 - 2022)
United Kingdom$4.31B (+ 15.2%)
Germany$2.46B (+ 28.4%)
China$2.21B (+ 37.4%)

Total Export Growth by Market (2021 - 2022)

Service Trade

Service Trade

Ireland Exports Services (2020)$122B
Ireland Imports Services (2020)$240B

In 2020, Ireland exported $122B worth of services. The top services exported by Ireland in 2020 were Miscellaneous business, professional, and technical services ($44.6B), Operational leasing services ($20.7B), Financial services ($19.5B), Other royalties and license fees ($14.9B), and Other direct insurance ($7.47B).

The top services imported by Ireland in 2020 were Other royalties and license fees ($96.4B), Miscellaneous business, professional, and technical services ($79.4B), Merchanting and other trade-related services ($25.6B), Financial services ($17.8B), and Reinsurance ($4.35B).

Service Exports (2020)

Service Imports (2020)

Economic Complexity

Overview

Economic Complexity (Trade)1.28Rank 16 of 124
Economic Complexity (Technology)0.62Rank 36 of 96
Economic Complexity (Research)1.91Rank 8 of 135

Most Specialized Products by RCA Index

Ireland has a high level of specialization in Scented Mixtures (34.3), Hormones (33.6), Sulfonamides (32.8), Nucleic Acids (30.9), and Other Isotopes (28.3). Specialization is measured using RCA, an index that takes the ratio between Ireland observed and expected exports in each product.

Export Opportunities by Relatedness

The top export opportunities for Ireland according to the relatedness index, were Phosphides (0.13), Bulbs and Roots (0.12), Photographic Paper (0.12), Other Inedible Animal Products (0.11), and Recovered Paper (0.11). Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product. The barchart show only products that Ireland is not specialized in.

Product Space

The product space is a network connecting products that are likely to be co-exported. The product space can be used to predict future exports, since countries are more likely to start exporting products that are related to current exports. Relatedness measures the distance between a product, and all of the products a country currently specializes in.

Relatedness Space

This network shows the products most related to the production structure of Ireland. These are products that tend to be co-exported with the products that Ireland exports. Higher relatedness values ​​indicate greater knowledge, which predicts a greater probability of exporting that product in the future.

Diversification Frontier

Filter
Depth

The Complexity-Relatedness diagram compares the risk vs strategic value of a country's potential export oppotunities. Relatedness is predictive of the probability that a country increases its exports in a product. Complexity, is associated with higher levels of income, economic growth, less income inequality, and lower greenhouse emissions.

Economic Complexity Ranking

Methodology
Scale

During the last 20 years Ireland's⁩ ⁨economy has become relatively less complex, moving from the ⁩⁨8th to the 16th⁩ position in the ECI rank.

These economic complexity rankings use 6 digit exports classified according to the HS96 classification. We consider only countries with population of at least 1 million and exports of at least $1 billion, and products with world trade over $500 million. To explore different rankings and vary these parameters visit the custom rankings section.

Explore Rankings

ECI (Trade) Ranking by Country

Have questions, comments, or concerns?
Send us an e-mail: [email protected]
Follow @OECtoday on
Created, Designed, and Developed by:
In collaboration with