How dependent is Ireland on the United Kingdom?

and 94 more

A product has a dominant supplier when a single country sells more than 50% of what is bought of it; we flag it separately above 75%.

• The United Kingdom sells 1.3% of what the world exports of natural gas and LPG; next come United States (18%), Norway (11%) and Australia (10%). The rest of the world exported 243.6 times what Ireland buys from the United Kingdom.
• The United Kingdom sells 1.6% of what the world exports of electricity; next come France (14%), Germany (6.8%) and Switzerland (6.1%). The rest of the world exported 109.2 times what Ireland buys from the United Kingdom.
• The United Kingdom sells 2.6% of what the world exports of bread, biscuits and pastries; next come Germany (10.2%), Canada (9.7%) and Italy (7.8%). The rest of the world exported 112.1 times what Ireland buys from the United Kingdom.
• The United Kingdom sells 4.4% of what the world exports of fresh milk and cream; next come Germany (13.8%), Netherlands (12.1%) and France (8%). The rest of the world exported 27.9 times what Ireland buys from the United Kingdom.
• The United Kingdom sells 2.5% of what the world exports of soft drinks; next come Austria (9.8%), Germany (8.4%) and Netherlands (7.9%). The rest of the world exported 90.1 times what Ireland buys from the United Kingdom.
• The United Kingdom sells 2.8% of what the world exports of chocolate; next come Germany (16.2%), Belgium (11.9%) and Poland (7.5%). The rest of the world exported 130.8 times what Ireland buys from the United Kingdom.
• The United Kingdom sells 3.4% of what the world exports of makeup and skin care; next come France (18.9%), South Korea (12.9%) and United States (9.7%). The rest of the world exported 225.9 times what Ireland buys from the United Kingdom.
• The United Kingdom sells 1.6% of what the world exports of steel structures; next come China (29.7%), Germany (8.4%) and Poland (4.7%). The rest of the world exported 239.1 times what Ireland buys from the United Kingdom.
• The United Kingdom sells 14.1% of what the world exports of live horses, donkeys and mules; next come China (22.1%), Germany (10%) and United States (6.8%). The rest of the world exported 11.2 times what Ireland buys from the United Kingdom.
• The United Kingdom sells 1.2% of what the world exports of toilet paper and tissues; next come China (17.5%), Germany (9.1%) and Poland (6.3%). The rest of the world exported 132.8 times what Ireland buys from the United Kingdom.

Exports from the rest of the world already have buyers; the figure shows scale, not availability.

Ireland is the United Kingdom’s 5th-largest customer, with 5.9% of its exports.

• Trade between Ireland and the United Kingdom
• Who does Ireland rely on?
• Who does the United Kingdom rely on?
• Dependence of Ireland on the United States
• Dependence of Ireland on Israel
• Dependence of Ireland on China
• Dependence of Ireland on Italy
• Trade profile of Ireland
• Trade profile of the United Kingdom
• All countries

Sources and licenses

• CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
• Natural Earth · Public domain

Methodology

The data come from CEPII BACI (Etalab 2.0 licence), which reconciles what the exporting and the importing country report, in current USD, FOB. Data up to 2024.

Dependence is the share of a country’s imports (or exports) that each partner accounts for. It does not measure whether a product has a substitute or how much it would cost to change supplier.

The concentration index (HHI) adds up the square of each partner’s share, in percent: it runs from 0 to 10,000. Its equivalent is 10,000 ÷ HHI, the number of partners of the same size that would give that value.

Products are HS4 headings of the 1992 nomenclature (some combine different goods), with a floor of $1 million per product and country.

The EU is the 27 current members in every year; the United Kingdom is outside the EU throughout the series.

Re-exports: countries that act as redistribution hubs carry their notice and the figures are not corrected.