evidence: By value, over the 2015 to 2018 period, the EU, as a trade bloc, has consistently been the destination for the largest proportion of NI goods exports. Since 2016, the proportion of NI goods exports sold to the EU has increased, reaching 60% of total goods exports in 2018, when they were valued at £5.37bn. Exports to the rest of the world were valued at £3.50bn in the same year. [...] HMRC’s data on regional trade shows that NI exports continued to grow during 2018. Overall exports grew by 1.9% from 2017 levels. This is lower than the rate of annual growth experienced in NI during 2017, when exports grew by 11% on the previous year. The largest proportion of these exports (60%) went to the EU, and the RoI continued to be the most important single country destination for NI exports –36.1% of total exports in 2018. The 2018 data shows the US to be the second largest single country destination for NI exports – 12.4% of total exports in 2017. Imports also continued to grow during 2017.