The last few decade hasn’t been great for Ireland’s economy as it slipped into recession for the first time since the 1980s. So bad was the financial crisis that was described as the country’s worst period since the potato famine.
It was eventually bailed out by a trio of international lenders who stepped forward with a €67.5billion loan in 2010 and three years later became the first of the eurozone states to exit its rescue programme. Greece, Cyrpus and Portugal are still involved in rescue programmes.
Ireland is on course to be the fastest growing economy in the euro zone for a fourth straight year, according to Davy Stockbrokers.
These days though, the Irish economy is in great shape – after years of economic downturn and a subsequent bailout following the 2008 global crash, the Bank of Ireland’s latest economic forecast has seen it revise the Emerald Isle’s gross domestic product growth projections from 3.2% to 4.8% this year and to 3.8% from 3.1% for 2018.
If you’re not already doing business out there, it’s time you were – Ireland is the UK’s fifth largest export market and imports more from the UK than any other country – mainly food, drink, clothing, fashion and footwear – and the UK accounts for 34% of imports into Ireland.
In 2012, total trade in goods and services from the UK to Ireland was £27 billion and two-way trade stands at €1 billion.
Here’s everything you need to know about exporting to Ireland…