Brexit: figures show huge jump in trade between Northern Ireland and republic
The impact of the first year of Brexit on Ireland has been revealed after official data showed cross-border trade between the republic and Northern Ireland jumped by €2.8bn (£2.3bn) in 2021.
Full-year figures from Ireland’s Central Statistics Office show that imports from Northern Ireland to the Irish republic were up 65% to €3.9bn, a rise of €1.5bn compared with 2020.
Exports from the republic to Northern Ireland also rocketed, up 54% to €3.7bn, an increase of €1.3bn compared with 2020 – a total trade bump of €2.8bn.
The breakdown of figures show the biggest increase in trade in both directions was in food and live animals, with exports to NI up from €919bn to €1.35bn year on year, while imports to the republic were up from €714m to €1.02bn. The past year also saw a tripling in the value of imports of chemicals and related products to the republic from NI up from €280m in 2020 to €850m in 2021 with big rises also in imports of fuel.
As no contemporary trade figures are published by the UK government or the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency for goods crossing the Irish sea from Great Britain into Northern Ireland, it is impossible to tell how much of the increase in trade is a result of the new trade barriers created by the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol.
Nonetheless, they will be seized on by protocol critics, including unionist parties, as confirmation that Brexit has boosted NI’s trade with Ireland.
The CSO figures, published on Tuesday, also show the impact of trade barriers erected between Ireland and Britain as a result of the UK’s departure from the EU, with a trade deficit opening up.
Exports from Ireland to Great Britain were up 17% across the year to almost €14.4bn, but imports plummeted by 13% to
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