Trade across the Irish border - Statistics & Facts

North to South trade

For the two Irish nations, the significance of this trade to the overall economy is remarkably different, with cross-border relations playing a much more important role in Northern Ireland than in the Republic of Ireland. In 2019, exports to Ireland accounted for around 20 percent of goods and services sold outside Northern Irish borders and were worth over two billion pounds more than exports to the rest of the EU combined. When considering just sales outside of the UK (so not including Great Britain), Ireland makes up 38 percent of the goods and services leaving the country.

South to North trade

In the Republic of Ireland, these figures are considerably lower. Looking at just the merchandise trade, Northern Irish exports were worth around 2.3 billion euros out of a total of 162 billion euros in 2020, a share of approximately 1.44 percent. Northern Irish imports, meanwhile, accounted for approximately 2.4 billion euros out of a total of 87 billion euros that year, again with share of roughly 2.8 percent. This does not mean, however, that Northern Ireland's trade relationship with Great Britain post-Brexit requires less attention, with Great Britain making up a much greater share of goods imports and exports, at 20 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively.



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