2018
All data 2018*
€
£
Statistics onCross-border goods & services tradeon the island of Ireland
Total Cross-Border Trade
€7.384bn
£6.515bn
€4.725bn£4.169bnNorth - South- €2.659bn£2.346bnSouth - North
Sources: BESES Statistics (NISRA 2018)* for NI firms and CSO for Irish firms. *Data on trade between Northern Ireland and Ireland is gathered through NISRA’s BESES Survey which currently has a lag of approximately 2 years, hence the 2018 figures are the most recently available for cross-border trade totals.
Total
Cross-Border Trade in Manufactured Goods
1995 - 2018
€
£
The chart below shows the total Cross-Border trade in goods (millions) from 1995 to 2018
- 0 1000 2000 3000 4000
Total
Cross-Border Trade in Manufactured Goods
2018
€3,902m £3,442.6m
€
£
Food, drink & tobacco
Total:€1,553.29m£1,370.43m€810.42m£715mNorth to South€742.87m£655.43mSouth to North
Manufacturing not elsewhere
Total:€423.40m£373.56m€79.340m£70mNorth to South€344.06m£303.56mSouth to North
Chemicals and chemical products
Total:€401.78m£354.49m€75.94m£67mNorth to South€325.84m£287.49mSouth to North
Basic metals & products
Total:€276.47m£243.92m€166.62m£147mNorth to South€109.85m£96.92mSouth to North
Mechanical engineering
Total:€191.62m£169.06m€107.68m£95mNorth to South€83.94m£74.06mSouth to North
Rubber & plastic products
Total:€185.75m£163.88m€109.95m£97mNorth to South€75.80m£66.88mSouth to North
Non metallic mineral products
Total:€182.21m£160.76m€86.14m£76mNorth to South€96.07m£84.76South to North
Textiles, clothing & leather
Total:€157.18m£138.68m€48.74m£43mNorth to South€108.44m£95.68mSouth to North
Wood & wood products
Total:€143.27m£126.40m€97.48m£86mNorth to South€45.79m£40.40mSouth to North
Pulp paper & publishing
Total:€131.03m£115.60m€108.81m£96mNorth to South€22.22m£19.60mSouth to North
Transport equipment
Total:€127.74m£112.70m€87.28m£77mNorth to South€40.46m£35.70mSouth to North
Electrical & optical equipment
Total:€98.75m£87.12m€52.14m£46mNorth to South€46.61m£41.12mSouth to North
The difference between the total of the sectoral figures and the total cross-border trade in goods figure is due to the omission of some sectoral figures not publically available.
Total
Cross-Border Trade in Services *
* including wholesale and retail services
2018
€3.48bn £3.07bn
€
£
The chart below shows the total Cross-Border Services trade (billions) from 2011 to 2018
- 0 1 2 3 4
Exporter Benefits by Firm Type
InterTradeIreland undertook research in 2019 which showed that cross-border traders have higher productivity, turnover and employment figures.
Sources: BESES Statistics (NISRA 2018) for NI firms and CSO CIP for Irish firms.
- Productivity'Productivity' bar shows the higher productivity levels experienced by cross-border traders by goods and services sectors, over firms that do not export
- Turnover'Turnover' bar shows the higher turnover levels experienced by cross-border traders by goods and services sectors, over firms that do not export
- Employment'Employment' bar shows the higher employment levels experienced by cross-border traders by goods and services sectors, over firms that do not export
- 0% 50% 100% 150% 200%
- NI Goods - ROI Exports Only
- NI Services - ROI Exports Only
- Irish-owned Goods - UK Exports Only
Cross-border shopping activity
Our Retail Monitor records the number of cars parked in central shopping car parks in the border areas of the island both North and South as an indicator of cross-border shopping activity. While there is some cross-border retail trade towards Ireland the majority stems from travel into Northern Ireland.
The drop in retail footfall seen in Q1 & Q2 2020 due to the pandemic has changed with an uplift in cross-border shopping flows both ways in Q3. North to South shopping is at 13% (up from 9% in Q2) and South to North shopping up to 16% from 9%.
Watch the video below for the latest statistics