What Ireland sells to the world: medicines, software and food in numbers

Official figures on Ireland's exports: the record 2025, the sharp swings in 2026, which products and countries matter most, and why services now outsell goods.

More than half of all the goods Ireland sold abroad in 2025 were medicines. Of €260.3 billion in goods exports, €138.6 billion were medical and pharmaceutical products.

That made 2025 a record year. But the figures for 2026 so far look very different, and the reason is mostly one big shift in timing.

2025 was a record year for goods

The CSO, the Central Statistics Office, measures goods leaving the country each month. Goods exports rose 16.4% in 2025, up €36.6 billion on 2024.

Ireland bought €144.0 billion of goods from abroad in 2025. So it sold about €116 billion more than it bought. That gap is called a trade surplus.

Medicines lead, chemicals follow

Medicines made up 53.2% of goods exports in 2025. Organic chemicals, a group that includes ingredients for medicines, were also a big earner.

To put that in context, medicine exports alone in 2025 were worth more than all the goods Ireland sold to the EU, the UK and China put together.

Most of these products are made by foreign-owned firms. In 2024, foreign-owned companies supported by IDA Ireland and other State agencies made 92.5% of those firms' exports.

For how Ireland attracts these firms, see our guide to Ireland's foreign investment model.

The US is the biggest buyer

Exports to the US jumped 52% in 2025 to €111.7 billion. That was 42.9% of all goods exports. Sales to the EU fell 2% to €86.8 billion.

The UK bought €20.6 billion. Of that, €15.1 billion went to Great Britain and €5.4 billion to Northern Ireland.

Inside the EU, Germany bought €8.6 billion of Irish goods from January to July 2026, and Belgium €5.9 billion.

2026 so far: a big fall, explained

From January to July 2026, goods exports were €122.3 billion. That is 26% lower than in the same months of 2025. Exports to the US fell 61%.

Not everything fell. Sales to the UK rose by about 31% and sales to China by about 33%. Sales to the EU dipped by 9%.

The main reason is timing. In early 2025, medicine exports were pushed forward, mostly to the US, ahead of changes in US trade policy. The Department of Finance calls the result "base effects": 2026 looks weak because early 2025 was so unusually strong.

“Recent trade policy changes have added an additional layer of complexity”— Department of Finance, Budget 2027 Economic and Fiscal Outlook, October 2026

The Department says strong sales of GLP-1 medicines, used to treat diabetes and obesity, almost made up for the drop in the second quarter. The latest month, August 2026, saw goods exports of €15.9 billion.

Services now outsell goods

Ireland also sells services abroad: software, cloud computing, finance and insurance. These do not show up in the goods figures.

The CSO publishes services figures once a year, so the latest full year is 2024. Figures for 2025 are expected in early 2027.

Computer services were the biggest part, at €278.7 billion, or about 58%. Europe bought €221.9 billion of Irish services in 2024, and the UK alone €52.7 billion. The US bought €62.3 billion.

• Computer services: €278.7 billion
• Other business services, such as consulting and research: €94.5 billion
• Financial services: €26.9 billion
• Insurance: €17.0 billion
• Royalties and licences: €16.3 billion

Food and drink: smaller, but local

Bord Bia, the State food agency, says food, drink and horticulture exports hit a record €19 billion in 2025. That was up 12% on 2024.

That is much smaller than medicines, at about a seventh of their value. Bord Bia describes 2025 as one of the most volatile trading years in recent times, shaped by extreme weather and lasting inflation.

Why this matters at home

Big swings in exports move Ireland's headline growth figure, GDP. The Department of Finance expects GDP to fall 0.7% in 2026 after rising 8% in 2025.

So it uses a different measure for the home economy, called modified domestic demand. It strips out much of the multinational activity. That is forecast to grow 3.7% in 2026.

Many of those firms export. The Department of Finance expects total exports of goods and services to grow by about 3% in 2026 and about 4.25% in 2027.