The Irish Exporters Association (IEA) has revised downward its forecast for export growth this year following an unexpectedly weak third quarter.

In its third quarter review, the IEA forecast export growth of 5 per cent for this year, down from the 7 per cent predicted at the beginning of the year.

The association said total export sales growth grew by only 1.7 per cent in the third quarter when compared to the same period last year.

It described as “most damaging” a 3 per cent drop in the export of manufactured goods during the period.

IEA chief executive John Whelan warned the “unexpected turn of events for the Irish export sector” could derail the Irish economic recovery which, he said, had placed a high dependence on the recovery being export-led.

For the first nine months of the year, exports were up by 5.4 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Figures show that exports of manufactured goods are up by 3.5 per cent over the same period last year and services exports up by 7.9 per cent in the period.

The figures showed the strong growth in agri-food exports was maintained with growth of 12 per cent. Agri-food exports for the first nine months of the year were worth €5.8 billion which corresponded to a growth rate of 15 per cent.

However, the slowdown in the pharma/chemical sector in the third quarter, combined with the fall in computer hardware exports brought the year to September exports down to a 3.5 per cent growth level.

Mr Whelan said: “Ireland’s share of the global services market is growing faster than the market which indicates that Irish services companies are increasing their market share internationally.”

“A weak and bumpy recovery seems be to emerging in global trade and Irish export industry will need to diversify its export client base to include a higher level of sales to emerging markets,” he added.