John Deasy
Question:107. Deputy John Deasy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide trade figures between Ireland and China for each of the past five years. [26608/13]
View answerTuesday, 11 June 2013
Questions (107)
Written answers
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) of Ireland compiles external trade figures for Ireland, which are available at www.cso.ie. The following trade figures for China include total merchandise trade and total trade in services between Ireland and China, including Hong Kong and Macau, for the period January 2008 to December 2012. In 2008, total bilateral trade between Ireland and China was €8,907 million (m). Total bilateral merchandise trade was valued at €6,600m; with exports worth €2,325m and imports worth €4,275 m. Total bilateral trade in services was valued at €2,307m; exports were worth €1,625m and imports worth €682m. Total bilateral trade in 2009 was valued at €7,144m; with total bilateral merchandise trade valued at €5,209m. Of this figure €2,330m were exports and €2,879m were imports. Bilateral trade in services totalled €1,935 m; exports at €1,648m and imports at €317m.
Total bilateral trade with China totalled €7,603m in 2010. Total bilateral merchandise trade valued €5,249m; with exports at €2,494m and imports at €2,755m. Total bilateral trade in services were valued at €2,354m with exports worth €1,943m and imports worth €411m.
In 2011, total bilateral trade with China was valued at €7,824m. Total bilateral merchandise trade was worth €5,155m with exports worth €2,453m and imports worth €2,702m. Total bilateral trade in services was worth €2,669m; exports and imports were valued at €2,471m and €325m respectively.
In 2012, total bilateral merchandise trade between Ireland and China was valued at €5,027m; exports €2,167 and imports €2,860. Figures for trade in services for this period will become available from the CSO in September of this year.
From a broader perspective, in 2012, total bilateral trade (imports to and exports from Ireland) increased by 4.7% to €318.5 billion. Total exports increased by over 5% in 2011 in nominal terms and by over 5.5% in 2012. Exports are almost evenly divided between goods and services, with almost all of our export growth in 2012 accounted for by services exports, which grew by 11%. This overall trend is evident in trade with China where our merchandise exports decreased in 2012; in large part due to the ‘patent cliff’ in respect of pharmaceuticals while our exports of services increased by 52% over the period 2008-2011.