Exports from the Republic to the North jumped 54% in 2021 following the first full year of Brexit, latest Central Statistics Office figures show.

Overall, Irish exports were valued at €165billion – the highest total on record, and a rise of €3billion compared to 2020, preliminary CSO figures for 2021 show.

The largest category was medical and pharmaceutical products, which accounted for 38% of all exports – or €62.6billion, which is an increase of €535million compared to 2020.

Last year, exports from south to north hit €3.7billion, up €1.29billion from 2020. North-to-south imports increased by €1.56billion, or 65%, to €3.96billion.

However, the same trend is not seen in the Republic’s trade with mainland Britain. While exports from Ireland to Great Britain increased last year, the value of imports dropped significantly.

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Exports to Britain in 2021 totalled €14.4billion, which is a rise of €-2.1billion, or 17%, and accounted for 9% of total exports.

But imports from Britain were down €2.37billion to €15.37billion, a drop of 13% compared to 2020. OveraIl, Irish imports in 2021 increased compared to 2020, growing by €15.5billion to €102.6billion, which is the first time imports have exceeded €100billion for the year.

The CSO also said: ‘The EU accounted for €61.4billion (37%) of total exports in 2021, a decrease of €2.769million on 2020.’

There were €34.2billion worth of imports from the EU in 2021, representing 33% of total imports. This was an increase of €3.9billion.

‘Exports to nonEU countries were valued at €103.8billion in 2021, which is an increase of €5.85billion,’ the CSO reported.

Earlier this month, the Northern Assembly was thrown into crisis after then-First Minister Paul Givan of the DUP resigned in the party’s latest move in its campaign against the Brexit protocol. Under the Good Friday Agreement, his resignation causes the Deputy First Minister – Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill – to automatically lose office.