Ireland’s pharma firms are EU’s third biggest exporter to the rest of the world
By Chris Wheal
May 02, 2024
Ireland has a growing tare surplus in medicinal and pharmaceutical products
Ireland’s pharmaceutical industry punched above its weight in Europe according to the latest EU statistics, asserting itself as the third biggest exporter outside the EU and second biggest exporter within.
But Irish pharma exports declined in 2023 from their peak year in 2022, while imports rose.
EU exports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products to countries outside the EU went down by 3.5% when compared with 2022. EU imports increased by 6.1% in 2023.
For the whole EU, exports reached €277bn in 2023, while imports stood at €119bn. That meant the EU's trade surplus in medicinal and pharmaceutical products amounted to €158bn. This was the second highest figure ever recorded, following the peak in 2022 of €174bn.
The big three
Falls in exports in 2023 were reported from the three biggest exporters, Germany, Belgium and Ireland.
In 2023, Germany was the EU’s largest exporter outside the EU (€62bn), followed by Belgium (€44bn) and Ireland (€37bn), all three registering decreases when compared with 2022.
The largest importers of medicinal and pharmaceutical products from outside the EU were Belgium (€26bn), followed by Germany (€20bn) and the Netherlands (€16bn).
A spokesperson for IDA Ireland told PharmaLife Science: “Ireland is a global hub for pharma and medtech, playing host to 27 of the top 30 biggest players, including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, BMS, Novartis, MSD and AbbVie.
"While there has been a moderate decline in pharma-chem exports in 2023 compared to 2022, this was to be expected given the drop in demand for Covid related products which drove exceptional and broad-based growth in 2022. Despite this decrease, Ireland will continue to be a global leader in the export of pharmaceuticals”.
Ireland’s figures
Digging deeper into the numbers (category 54 of the overall trade stats) gives a more detailed picture. Outside the EU, Irish medicinal and pharmaceutical product exports have fallen below levels two years ago. In 2021 they were €37.6bn. In 2022 they shot up to €41.7bn. But last year they fell back to €37.3bn.
Imports for medicinal and pharmaceutical products from outside the EU have grown steadily. In 2021 they were worth €5.7bn, rising to €6.5bn in 2022 and to €7.1bn last year.
Within the EU, Ireland is a powerhouse. Only Germany tops Ireland, which knocks Belgium into third place:
- Germany €49bn
- Ireland €40bn
- Belgium €35bn
Irish exports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products within the EU have soared from €25bn in 2021 to €37.4bn in 2022 and to €40.4bn last year. But imports have also risen from €4.1bn in 2021, to €5.1bn in 2022 and to €5.8bn last year.
Ireland has figures available for the first two months of 2024 too. External exports were €5.5bn in January (€2.8bn Jan 23), dropping to €2.8bn in February (€2.4bn Feb 23). This compares with imports of €564m (€590m Jan 23) and €685m (€626m Feb 23). That’s an improving trade surplus.
Within the EU, January exports were €3.5bn (€2.8bn Jan 23) and February’s were €3.6bn (€2.4bn Feb 23). Imports were €423m (€448m Jan 23) and €402m (€361m Feb 23). The exports are still rising faster than imports, showing a health trade surplus.
US and Switzerland main EU trade partners
According to the EU stats, the main destination of non-EU exports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products in 2023 was the United States (US), accounting for a third (33.2%; €92bn). The US was followed by Switzerland (15.5%; €43bn) and China (7.7%; €21bn).
Imports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products to the EU came mainly from the US, accounting for 39.5% of all EU imports of these products, then Switzerland (32.3%) and the United Kingdom (6.9%).
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