Life Science Product Exports Increase by 9.4% in 2010

On March 31, 2011, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) released official external trade figures for 2010, bringing good news for Irish exporters and in particular for the Life Sciences sector.

On a year to year basis, exports of life science products (chemicals, medical and pharmaceutical products and medical devices) increased by 9.4% totalling €56.8 billion.

	2009 (€,000)	2010 (€,000)	%
Chemicals	€21,515,005	€22,619,651	5.13%
Medical & pharmaceutical products	€26,472,665	€29,806,323	12.59%
Medical Devices	€3,943,684	€4,385,028	11.19%
Total Life Sciences Merchandise Exports	€51,931,354	€56,811,002	9.40%
Source: CSO, External Trade (released March 31, 2011)

Medical and pharmaceutical product exports increased by 12.59%, reaching nearly €30 billion in 2010. Medical device exports increased by 11.19%, to €4.38 billion. Chemical exports grew at rate of 5% in 2010. The graph below demonstrates that medical and pharmaceutical products experienced faster growth than chemicals or medical device products in export terms.


The Life Sciences industry is a key cornerstone of Irish exports and an area which government has to support in order to retain high-quality jobs.

In 2010, exports of pharmaceutical and medical device products accounted for 63.55% of total merchandise exports.

Since 2000, Life Science exports grew 77.75%, reaching nearly €56 billion in 2010, compared to just under €32 billion in 2000,maintaining an average annual growth rate of just over 6%.



The life sciences industry (medical and pharmaceutical products, medical devices and chemicals) is now the lifeblood of Irish exports and is a huge contributor to Ireland’s GDP.

Over the last decade successful policies in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), an excellent business culture and an educated workforce has radically changed the life sciences sector in Ireland. Ireland is now the second largest net exporter of pharmaceutical and medical device products in the world.

Ireland is home to 15 of the top 20 manufacturers of pharmaceutical products and medical devices in the world. There are more than 350 companies employing over 24,000 people in a variety of activities, including active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and devices manufacture, intellectual property (IP) management, diagnostics, research and development (R&D) and supply chain management.

This is clearly reflected in the share that life sciences products has of the total merchandise exports. As can be seen in the graph below, the life sciences product share of total merchandise exports has dramatically increased from 37.86% in 2000 to 63.55% in 2010.

Need for diversification, finding new opportunities

Irish based pharmaceutical and medical device companies export to over 100 countries around the globe, with the top 10 destinations for Irish life science products accounting for 87.30% of total Life Science exports, and the top 20 countries accounting for 93.57%.

Top 20 destinations for Irish Life Sciences exports in 2010 (€000)
1	United States	€15,913,764
2	Belgium	€11,738,966
3	Great Britain	€5,187,212
4	Germany	€4,108,347
5	Switzerland	€3,311,809
6	France	€2,583,044
7	Spain	€2,509,872
8	Italy	€1,695,965
9	Japan	€1,289,685
10	Netherlands	€1,257,559
11	Hong Kong	€529,285
12	Australia	€469,254
13	Canada	€407,232
14	China	€403,924
15	Mexico	€381,952
16	Saudi Arabia	€308,077
17	Turkey	€288,721
18	Portugal	€269,643
19	Poland	€261,746
20	Singapore	€245,525
Source: CSO, External Trade (released March 31, 2011)

  

There has been little change in the top 20 destinations since 2000. The top ten countries remain with only slight modifications in their position, and only 4 new countries are in the top 20 destinations of 2010. These are China, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

Only one of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) features in the top 20 destinations for life sciences exports, although these countries, and especially India, are where many of the raw materials are sourced.

There is still potential for further export development by Irish based life science companies. Exports to the BRIC countries could increase if entry barriers were reduced.

There are also many opportunities elsewhere. There are many South East Asian and South American countries with large populations that are living longer and their demand for pharmaceutical products and medical devices will increase.

There are big opportunities in the life sciences industry globally and Ireland is in an excellent position to take advantage of these opportunities from the strong position that it already occupies.