China becomes Ireland's 3rd largest source of imported goods

China has become the third-largest source of goods imported by Ireland, according to data released by Ireland's national statistics bureau (CSO) on Thursday.

In the first 10 months of this year, Ireland imported 12.56 billion euros (13.31 billion U.S. dollars) worth of goods from China. This made China Ireland's third-largest source of imported goods, after Britain (24.56 billion euros) and the United States (18.68 billion euros).

In terms of exports, China was the fifth-largest market for goods exported by Ireland. In the January-October period of this year, Ireland exported 12 billion euros worth of goods to China, ranking after the United States (53.64 billion euros), Germany (21.71 billion euros), Britain (18.67 billion euros) and Belgium (15.35 billion euros).

In the first 10 months of this year, Ireland exported 176.46 billion euros worth of goods, more than it exported in the whole of 2021, said the CSO.

In 2021, the total goods exported by Ireland were valued at 165 billion euros.

Ireland's goods imports for January to October 2022 were valued at 116.79 billion euros, up nearly 42 percent compared with the same period last year. (1 euro=1.06 U.S. dollars)