Member Article

Irish exports to UK increase by 4% despite backdrop of Brexit uncertainty

Enterprise Ireland, Ireland’s trade and innovation agency have announced that its Irish client base increased exports to the UK by 4% to €7.9bn in 2018. With increased business to the UK, Irish companies continue to contribute significantly to the economic success of the UK, with Enterprise Ireland clients employing over 100,000 people in the UK.

Deirdre McPartlin, the agency’s UK Manager, said: “Irish companies are proven to be dynamic partners to their UK counterparts and in a post-Brexit era, Ireland wants the closest possible trading relationship with the UK as this benefits business on both sides of the Irish sea. Irish companies’ commitment to the UK market and maintaining the strongest trading relationship with the UK, is very much reflected in our clients export results and the opportunities that we see in the market. Despite the backdrop of Brexit uncertainty, we are pleased to see that exports to the UK, our number one trading partner have remained steady and have increased by 4%. The growth was particularly strong across a number of key sectors for Irish exporters including construction and cleantech infrastructure, fintech, digital, aerospace and life sciences. We are also seeing strong growth in the Northern Powerhouse region, and this year Enterprise Ireland opened a second office in the UK, based in Manchester to support growth opportunities in this region.”

The report announced that globally the agency’s clients recorded export sales of €23.8bn in 2018, representing a 6 percent increase on 2017. The Irish construction sector recorded the fastest growth up 22%on 2017 to €1.97bn. Ireland’s fintech sector exports grew by 17% to €829m, while Engineering grew by 9 percent to €1.6bn and digital technologies exports grew by 6% to €2.2 bn.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Enterprise Ireland .