An interactive globe maps every flow of goods between Ireland and the rest of the world in 2024. One market and one product group dominate, and figures for 2026 show how quickly that can change.

Ireland sells goods to more than 200 countries, but a small number of routes carry most of the value. The map below draws every one of them for 2024. Each line runs to or from Ireland, and the brighter and thicker the line, the more trade it carries.

One market takes a third of everything

The United States is by far the biggest buyer of Irish goods. The CSO's trade figures for 2024 put goods exports at €223.7 billion, and €73.5 billion of that went to the US, about one euro in every three.

The CSO and the map rank partners slightly differently. The CSO's figures come from Irish customs and trade records. The map uses CEPII's BACI database, which compares what each country says it exported with what its partner says it imported, and reconciles the two into one value.

Medicines and chemicals carry the load

Chemicals, a group that includes medicines and the ingredients used to make them, made up 62% of the value of Irish exports in the map's data. Medical instruments came next, at about 9.5%. Food and farm produce, which matter far more for jobs around the country, came to about 8% between them.

The link between the two is direct. According to the CSO, medical and pharmaceutical products and organic chemicals were worth €53.6 billion of exports to the US in 2024, 73% of everything Ireland sent there.

What we buy, and from whom

Imports are spread more evenly. The CSO put goods imports in 2024 at €134.7 billion, with the US and the UK the two biggest sources, followed by France, Germany and China. Machinery, vehicles, fuel and food are much bigger shares of what comes in than of what goes out.

2026: the US route has shrunk fast

The map is a snapshot of 2024. Monthly CSO figures show how quickly the biggest line on it can change. In the first eight months of 2026, goods exports to the US were €35.2 billion, down 58% from €83.6 billion in the same months of 2025, the CSO said on 16 October.

Medical and pharmaceutical exports were €51.6 billion from January to August 2026, against €99.6 billion a year earlier, according to the same release. Exports in 2025 were unusually high, so part of the fall is a return from that peak.

Testing the weak points

The scenario tool in the map asks a simple question: if trade with one country, or through one sea route, stopped, how much Irish trade would be exposed? Choose the United States and close to a third of exports light up. Choose the United Kingdom and the import side matters more, because so much of what Ireland buys comes from or through Britain.

The result is a screening figure, not a prediction. Companies can switch suppliers, routes and markets, and some goods would still get through. What the tool shows well is how concentrated Ireland's trade is.

Where the data comes from

• The map uses the CEPII BACI database for 2024, release V202601, in US dollars. Only flows with Ireland at one end are included.
• The official euro figures are from the CSO. The two sources measure trade differently, so their totals and rankings do not match exactly.
• Both cover goods only. Services such as software and financial services are not included.
• Sea routes in the scenario tool are worked out from geography. The data does not track ships or ports.