Exports of food and live animals in January decreased by €23 million year-on-year, figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

In January 2026, Ireland saw €1.143 billion worth of exports of food and live animals, while in January 2025, exports for the same category were €1.166 billion

Imports of food and live animals also saw a slight dip; €842 million in January 2026 compared to €899 million in the same month of 2025.

CSO figures

Elsewhere, preliminary data from the CSO shows that in January 2026, Ireland’s top exporting partners were the US, the Netherlands and Great Britain, with Ireland exporting 21.6% (€3.5 billion), 12.8% (€2.1 billion) and 10.9% (€1.8 billion) of total export goods respectively to these countries.

In January 2026, Ireland imported the highest value of goods from the US, Great Britain and China. These countries represented 14.0% (€1.6 billion), 11.0% (€1.2 billion) and 10.0% (€1.1 billion) respectively of the total import trade for January 2026.

Overall exports to Great Britain increased by €567.5 million (+47.3%) to €1.8 billion in January 2026 compared with January 2025 (€1.2 billion).

Meanwhile, imports from Great Britain fell by €144.1 million (-10.4%) to €1.2 billion in January 2026 compared with January 2025 (€1.4 billion).

Imports from Great Britain accounted for 11.0% of total import trade in January 2026.

Imports from the US declined by €817.7 million (-33.9%) to €1.6 billion in January 2026 compared with January 2025 (€2.4 billion).

The products which accounted for the largest share of imports from the US were Chemicals & Related Products at €612.4 million and Machinery & Transport Equipment at €583.2 million, representing 38.4% and 36.6% respectively of total imports from US in January 2026.

Ireland’s total exports in January 2026 were €16.2 billion; while Ireland’s total imports in January 2026 were €11.4 billion.

Commenting on the Goods Exports and Imports January 2026, Jane Burmanje, statistician in the CSO International Trade in Goods Division said: “In January 2026, Ireland’s unadjusted exports of goods decreased by more than a third (€8.7 billion) to €16.2 billion compared with January 2025 (€24.9 billion)"

She noted that this fall was largely driven by a decline in the export of pharmaceutical products over this period.

"A record level of goods (€87.4 billion) were exported in Quarter 1 of 2025; however, exports of goods have declined on average each quarter since Q1 2025," Burmanje added.

"Exports of Medical & Pharmaceutical Products more than halved (-61.0%) to €5.9 billion in January 2026 compared with January 2025 (€15.2 billion); nonetheless, pharmaceuticals remain Ireland’s largest export product."

The CSO statistician added that more than a third (36.8%) of all goods exported in January 2026 were pharmaceuticals (€5.9 billion).