Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 December 2025
4. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Taoiseach the basis on which trade with Israel is calculated; which trade statistics apply to Israel; and the way in which a particular trade stream with Israel is determined. [72666/25]
View answerCSO trade in goods statistics with non-EU countries such as Israel are compiled using a number of data sources including data sourced from Customs documents, Intrastat survey returns and estimates.
Extra-EU trade statistics are compiled mainly using Customs data sourced from documents (Single Administrative Documents (SADs)) supplied by exporters and importers (or their agents) to the Customs authorities which are used for Customs clearance purposes. The information on the SAD is captured by the Customs AEP (Automated Entry Processing) system, either by feeding it in at the Customs Stations or by electronic transfer direct from the trader. The AEP records, with the statistical data, are transferred to VIMA and then to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for processing and dissemination.
For import values, Intrastat data with country of consignment as intra-EU but country of origin as Extra-EU are also included in the compilation of trade statistics. CSO data on trade figures records imports by country of origin; that is the country from which the goods originate, rather than the country of consignment which is the last Member State where a change has been made to the goods, for example, where there is a change of ownership of the goods, or goods are repackaged or further processed in some way. If a firm imports goods from country A which have been repackaged in country B for example, the country of origin is country A, but the country of consignment is country B. It should be noted, however, that in the case where the goods simply transit through a Member State, that Member State is not recorded in the trade statistics at all.
In addition, CSO trade statistics include estimates for firms which have not submitted a response to the Intrastat survey, or which are not liable to return a response for the Intrastat data. For Intrastat data, firms whose value of imports exceed the threshold (€750,000) in the previous 12 months must make a detailed import return each month. These estimates are forecast using past historical values. Intrastat data is not used in the compilation of export trade statistics for non-EU countries as export goods are classified by country of final destination.
Countries for trade statistics are classified for all European statistical offices compiling European statistics on international trade in goods using EUROSTAT’s country nomenclature (Geonomenclature) as set out annually in the Official Journal of the European Union. From January 1999, this follows the United Nation’s coding system, where each country is identified by a two-letter code.
CSO trade in goods statistics from non-EU countries such as Israel are thus an aggregation of Customs-based non-EU trade data, Intrastat survey data and estimates for firms which are below threshold or non-response for this survey.
Between January and September 2025, the value of import goods from Israel was €2.6* billion while the value of export goods was €1.0* billion.
*The most recent month’s data on External Trade in Goods figures are provisional and subject to revision.
