---
title: "Butter, Beer, and Whiskey: Irish Import Data"
description: "For St. Patrick's Day we took a look at what the U.S. imported from Ireland in 2018."
language: en
canonical: https://www.flex.thisisbrew.com/blog/butter-beer-and-whiskey-irish-import-data/
lifecycle: live
---

# Butter, Beer, and Whiskey: Irish Import Data

As a data-driven freight forwarder, we love import/export data. So, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day this week, we took a look at some of the U.S.’ favorite Irish imports in 2018. Contact lenses ([HTS](https://www.flex.thisisbrew.com/glossary/hs-hts-codes/) 9001.30.00.00) and electrical connectors (HTS 8536.69.40.40) topped the list*, but we were more interested in the Republic of Ireland’s tastier exports: butter, beer, and whiskey. 

## Irish Butter

The U.S. imported a whopping **25,432,804 kg** of butter (HTS code 0405.10.20.00) from Ireland in 2018, up from a mere **68,843 kg** in 1996. Irish butter, which some Americans refer to as [“fancy” butter](https://www.dailyedge.ie/kerrygold-2-3038456-Oct2016/), has become wildly popular in the U.S. and accounted for almost [23,000 tons](https://www.eater.com/2018/4/17/17231716/kerrygold-butter-irish-america-history) of butter sales last year. 

## Irish Beer

Multiple beer HTS codes were high on 2018’s import list (a pint, anyone?): 

- **47,609,523 liters** of 2203.00.00.90 (beer made from malt in containers over 4 liters)

- **23,890,476 liters** of 2203.00.00.60 (beer made from malt in containers not over 4 liters)

- **47,929,830 liters** of 2203.00.00.30 (beer made from malt in glass containers not over 4 liters)

[152.5% more beer](https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/food-drink/green-food-surge-saint-patricks-day) is sold on St. Patrick’s Day than any other day of the year, likely causing the spike in imports in advance of March 2018. **7,907,100 liters** of 2203.00.00.90 were imported in January of that year, and imports dropped to **1,280,215 liters** the following April. We saw the same trend with 2203.00.00.60, with **5,946,435 liters** imported in January of 2018, dropping to **335,832 liters** in April. 

## Irish Whiskey

Whiskey rounds out our list, with **29,739,496 liters** of HTS code 2208.30.30.30 (Irish and Scotch whiskeys in containers not holding over four liters) imported into the U.S. from Ireland in 2018. 

Ireland exports to the U.S. of this HTS code in 2018 were topped only by the United Kingdom, which exported **58,596,449 liters** to the United States. 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

*All data is from the [U.S. Census Bureau](https://usatrade.census.gov/index.php?do=login) and refers to the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland is included in the United Kingdom's import data and could not be differentiated from other UK imports.

For a high-level overview of import data, explore [Flexport.com/data](https://www.flexport.com/data/hs-code/0-all-commodities).

---

*This is a markdown version of [https://www.flex.thisisbrew.com/blog/butter-beer-and-whiskey-irish-import-data/](https://www.flex.thisisbrew.com/blog/butter-beer-and-whiskey-irish-import-data/) for AI/LLM consumption.*