In the event of a hard Brexit, Germany may replace many of the products it imports from the UK with goods from Ireland, a new report has claimed.

Research carried out for the German-Irish Chamber of Commerce suggested that just over half of the British products imported by Germany could be swapped for Irish exports, the Irish Times reports.

A hard Brexit would "increase opportunities for import substitution and inter-EU trade as the UK is likely to lose market share", the document commented.

Buying Irish goods rather than those from the UK could become more attractive for nations in Europe should a hard Brexit occur because they would not be subject to the extra expense of tariffs.

Furthermore, they are likely to be less difficult to move through the customs process than their British counterparts.

This was the case even when taking into account the extra cost of transporting products from Ireland.

The report also discovered that Ireland may look for alternatives to British products too, with 61 per cent of German goods potentially cheaper than those imported from Britain in the event of a hard Brexit.

According to the Irish Central Statistics Office, Germany is Ireland's fourth largest export destination and it sends around €10 billion worth of goods there each year.