Ireland’s trade surplus narrowed to EUR 3.5 billion in June 2026, down from EUR 4.6 billion in June 2025. Imports surged by 19.0% year-on-year to EUR 14.7 billion, largely driven by higher purchases of office machines and automatic data-processing equipment (+102.3%), miscellaneous manufactured articles (+32.5%), and petroleum and petroleum products (+9.6%).
By trading partner, imports recorded strong increases from the UK (+20.4%), the US (+51.3%), China (+31.8%), and Spain (+28.1%).
Exports rose 7.1% to EUR 18.1 billion, supported by robust gains in shipments of petroleum and petroleum products (+327.6%), office machines and automatic data-processing equipment (+95.7%), animal oils and fats (+40.7%), and rubber and rubber products (+76.6%). Export growth was particularly strong to the UK (+36.8%), Canada (+171.1%), and China (+91.1%).
For the January–June period, the trade surplus stood at EUR 24.4 billion, sharply lower than the EUR 78.6 billion recorded in the same period a year earlier.
