Global financial giant, HSBC has said in a report that it expects Ireland to record an increase of 6 per cent in its exports as the country's economy records strong recovery.

HSBC said that the Irish economy will benefit from improvements in price competitiveness and higher demand from Europe from Irish products. The country recorded a fall in net exports in the previous year due to pharma patent issues but the bank and financial services firm believes that the exports will rise 6 per cent this year.

Alan Duffy, the head of HSBC Ireland corporate banking division, said that improvements in the US and euro zone as well as improvement in Irish unit labour costs during the previous few years will help increase exports to an impressive 6 per cent growth. He pointed out that the business conditions are expected to improve over the coming six months as the Eurozone, the UK and the US comes out of recession.

"The euro zone now looks like it has sustainably exited recession which should remove some of the drag on Ireland's trade sector going forward," said Duffy.