Increased regulatory burdens due to Brexit have hit 54 per cent of businesses, new figures show.
Data published by the Central Statistics Office shows that two in five (40 per cent) enterprises had difficulty sourcing raw materials or intermediate products from suppliers abroad due to Covid-19.
More enterprises (47 per cent) purchased goods and materials from suppliers abroad than supplied to enterprises overseas (24 per cent).
Raw materials (21 per cent) and machinery and other technical equipment (20 per cent) used in a firm’s production were the most common purchases from abroad.
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The United Kingdom was the most popular location for both global purchasing and supplying of goods/materials and services, the data shows.
The Northern Ireland Protocol was created as part of the Brexit agreement as a way to avoid a hard land border on the island of Ireland.
It did so by moving regulatory and customs processes to the Irish Sea, creating new checks on goods being shipped from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
Manufacturing
More than nine in ten manufacturing enterprises purchased goods and materials from abroad while 82 per cent supplied goods materials.
Manufacturing also had the highest proportion of firms purchasing services from abroad.
Almost a third of enterprises in the services sector supplied services abroad in 2020.
Almost four in ten enterprises indicated that they purchased goods/materials from the United Kingdom, while 35 per cent purchased from the European Union, excluding Ireland.
Almost one in ten enterprises purchased from a European country outside the EU and UK, while 21 per cent purchased from the rest of the world.
Raw materials used in the firm’s own production process and machinery and other technical equipment used by the business were the most common purchases.
Products designed by another company for resale on domestic or foreign markets was the least reported type of purchase, the data also revealed.
The cancellation of orders or a decline in incoming orders from domestic customers was the most common impact of Covid-19, it further found.
Almost half of enterprises said cancellation of orders or a decline in incoming orders from domestic customers due to Covid-19 has impacted them.
A decline in orders from customers abroad impacted 34 per cent of enterprises.
Covid-19 impacted GVC arrangements both home and abroad.
Due to the pandemic, more than two in five enterprises had difficulty acquiring raw materials or intermediate products from suppliers domestically, while 40 per cent said they had difficulty with suppliers from abroad.
