Provisional figures show a strong increase in exports in February, which led to a 33% increase in the trade surplus compared with the previous month.
The Central Statistics Office said the value of exports in February was just over €8 billion, up 11% from January, while imports fell 3% to just under €4.3 billion. This meant that the trade surplus widened by 33% to €3.8 billion.
Compared with February last year, exports were up 14%, while imports rose by 18%.
More detailed figures for January show that exports were down 1% compared with the same month last year to just under €7 billion, led by an 11% fall in exports of medical and pharmaceutical products. Exports to Britain were up 25%, while exports to France grew by 26%.
Imports in January rose by 26% from a year earlier to €4.2 billion, with imports of road vehicles jumping by 60%. Imports from the US almost doubled compared with January last year.
