Exports to Japan have soared by over 50% so far this year, based on latest CSO figures, reaching €1.5bn in the first five months of the year.
The breakthrough comes at a time when exports to the UK have fallen by 7%, as Brexit concerns and the associated continuing weakness of sterling piles pressure on margins.
Inward investment from Japan has been a stable source for the IDA, creating the highest foreign direct investment from Asia to date and may be a safe haven for more investment if the Trump administration turns sour on Ireland’s trade surplus with the US.
The big winners in the export growth to Japan this year are medical devices manufacturers which accounted for one third of the sales to the market, followed by pharmaceutical companies providing a further 25%.
Japan’s lucrative medical device market, the third largest in the world, ahead of China and Germany, imports 40% of its requirements. A growing slice of the demand is provided by the world’s top 10 medical device companies, many of whom are located in Ireland, with Europe’s premier cluster of device companies based in the Cork to Galway region.
Artificial hip and knee joints produced in Cork by Stryker are in high demand in Japan as are heart stents produced by Depuy in Ringaskiddy and Boston Scientific in Galway and Cork.
