Preliminary figures for May show a sharp fall in both exports - down by 14 per cent - and a fall in imports, compared to the previous month.
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), exports fell from €7,478 million to €6,450 million while imports fell from €4,200 million to €3,970 million.
Figures released yesterday by the CSO give final figures for external trade for April last, and first estimates for import and export numbers for May. On an unadjusted basis, the value of exports in April this year was €7,135 million, up €409 million or 6 per cent on April 2003. The value of imports was up 7 per cent or €279 million to €4,361 million.
The CSO said the indications for May 2004 were that exports had decreased by €340 million to €6,320 million on May last year, but imports of €3,930 million had increased by €113 million.
When the January to April 2004 figures are compared to the same period last year, they show that exports have increased from €26,545 million to €27,935 million, up 5 per cent. Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products showed the biggest rise up 11 per cent to €4,816 million, while exports of organic chemicals rose 9 per cent to €5,726 million.
There was a sharp drop in computer equipment exports, which fell 9 per cent from €4,876 million to €4,455 million.
Exports to the US rose 2 per cent to €5,841 million, but exports to Britain fell 5 per cent and by 6 per cent to Germany. Exports to Belgium increased by 40 per cent and were worth €4,143 million, while there was a sharp increase in exports to Italy, which rose 18 per cent to €1,142 million.
Imports increased slightly from €16,122 million to €16,183 million during the January-April 2004 period. Imports from the US rose by 7 per cent while imports from Britain fell by 4 per cent. There was a sharp increase in imports from China, which rose from €630 million to €846 million, up 34 per cent compared to January-April 2003.
