US demand for weight loss drugs drives Irish exports

A huge surge in Ireland's goods exports in the first quarter of 2025 was partially due to demand for weight loss drugs in the United States, the central bank in Dublin has said.

The main reason for the big rise in Irish exports was businesses getting goods into the US before President Donald Trump's tariffs took effect in April.

March was a record month for Irish exports to the US with sales worth $25bn (£18.7bn), 400% higher than the same period in 2024.

The Central Bank of Ireland said this surge was "concentrated in a single product category: ingredients used in weight loss and diabetes medicines".

It added that when the tariff effect was stripped out there was "some evidence of strong momentum in underlying goods exports related to weight loss products, ingredients for which are manufactured in Ireland".

"The pharmaceutical sector in Ireland appears well placed to take advantage of rapidly rising global demand for these products."

The US firm Eli Lilly makes the active pharmaceutical ingredients for its Zepbound and Mounjaro weight loss treatments near Kinsale in County Cork.

Earlier this decade it invested $800m (£597m) in the Cork facility to help meet anticipated demand for the drug.

Eli Lilly said in the first quarter of 2025 its sales of the drugs were worth just over $6bn (£4.5bn) compared to $2.3bn (£1.7bn) in the same period in 2024.

Zepbound and Mounjaro are among a class of drugs which work as an appetite suppressant by mimicking a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1).

This is an intestinal hormone which is released after eating, and typically makes people feel fuller.

Most of the US's major pharmaceutical companies have manufacturing operations in Ireland, partially for tax reasons.

That has made the US Ireland's biggest export market with pharmaceuticals the most important sector.

Trump has not yet imposed tariffs on pharmaceuticals but is threatening to do so on national security grounds.

Until that happens the majority of Irish goods exported to the US do not face tariffs.