6 months of trade increase in 2010

The upward trend in international trade, which begun in the first quarter of 2010, is continuing in the second quarter, showing an increase in worldwide merchandise trade of nearly 25%

World merchandise exports increased by about 7% in the second quarter of 2010, in comparison with the first quarter. Irish merchandise exports in the second quarter of 2010 were up 5% or just over €1 billion compared to the first quarter of the year. This is the first quarterly growth in merchandise exports recorded since the beginning of 2009, and indicates we may now have reached the turning point in the decline in Irish merchandise exports , brought on by the global financial crises.

The rapid return to growth in global markets was seen in the stellar performance of Irish Services exports which continued their very strong growth pattern and rose by €2.2 billion to €34.6 billion in the first 6 months of the year. In its recent publication on commercial services
the WTO reported that for 2009 Ireland was ranked 9th largest commercial services exporting nation, up from 11th position in 2008 , which is a clear indication of the rising share of global services trade being won by Irish based companies. This underlines the strength of our
internationally trading services sector and offers very positive indictors of Ireland’s potential to be a global leader in this sector. Services now account for 45% of total Irish exports and are likely to exceed merchandise exports next year.