Beverage exports set new record

Ireland exported some €141 billion-worth of goods in 2018, up a considerable 15% from 2017’s figure of €123 billion according to the latest CSO statistics for January to December 2018.

On the other hand imports rose too, by 14%, from €79 billion to €90 billion.

But beverage exports accounted for €1.44 billion, up 5.7% on the previous year’s €1.36 billion figure. Beverage imports fell 3% to €822 million from €848 million according to the CSO’s figures.

 

Mineral waters

Ireland’s mineral water exports were up by just under 2 % from €2.7 million to €2.8 million while the volume jumped 19%.

But far outweighing this export figure is that of the value of mineral water imports at €33.6 million. This value grew slightly during this time by around 1% at a time when volumes shrunk by 10.5%.

 

Sparkling wines

Imports of sparkling wine weighed in at a much more meaty €23.7 million in value, up 16% from the previous year’s figure of €20.4 million. This was predicated on an increase in volumes of 8.5%.

 

Wines

Some €249 million-worth of wine was imported here in 2018, down 3.4% on 2017’s €258 million figure. Wine volumes were also down, by 8%.

 

Cider/Perry

We export considerably more cider and perry than we import. In 2018 these exports were worth €48.8 million, but this was down 2% on the €49.9 million figure the previous year. This despite the fact that volumes exported grew 11%.

Imports of cider & perry were also up in value however, by just under 6% to €10.7 million from €10.1 million on volumes that were up 9.4%.

 

Beer

Exports of beer grew in value last year, but not by much. Some €279 million-worth of Irish beer was exported, just 1.2% up on 2017’s €276 million. To achieve this, export volumes showed 9.7% growth.

Imports of beer held steady at €167 million on a volume up by 2%.

 

Whiskey

As expected, our whiskey exports enjoyed another great year with values up over 30% to a figure of €654 million from €579 million with volumes up over 13%. Still, our whiskey imports showed healthy volume growth too with volumes up by 46% despite a value increase of only 4% from €15.6 million to €16.23 million.William?

 

Gin

Similarly, our gin exports had a flying year in 2018, reaching a value of over €6 million, up 211% from 2017’s €1.9 million figure. Volumes were up by just under 370% too.

Imported gins saw a value growth of nearly 26% from €13 million to over €16 million on a volume growth of over 18%.

 

Rum

The value of imported rum was up last year by 30% to €7.1 million from €5.5 million on a volume up by just under 15%.