The Republic's trade surplus with non-EU countries fell sharply in August, as exports declined significantly.
Exports exceeded imports by €844 million over the month, the lowest trade surplus for three months, according to seasonally-adjusted figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) today.
Exports to non-EU countries decreased to €2,556 million in August from €2,829 million in July while imports for same period increased to €1,712 million from €1,504 million in July.
The unadjusted exports were valued at €2,425 million, 8 per cent lower than the €2,636 million recorded in August 2001.
Unadjusted imports were valued at €1,565 million, 7 per cent higher than the €1,463 million recorded in August 2001 - imports of transport equipment (other than road vehicles) increased from €8 million to €351 million in this period.
Over the period from January to August exports fell 2 per cent from €23,245m to €22,790m. Exports of electrical machinery decreased 32 per cent from €3,164m to €2,166m and exports of computers decreased 13 per cent from €4,293m to €3,749m.
However, exports of medical and pharmaceutical products increased from €1,579m to €2,434m.
The CSO said exports to the Philippines decreased by 56 per cent from €612 million to €268 million and exports to Japan decreased 16 per cent from €2,138million to €1,803 million. Exports to Saudi Arabia increased from €283 million to €911 million.
Imports from January to August have decreased 8 per cent from €14,099 million to €12,969 million. Computers decreased 21 per cent from €3,636 million to €2,864 million while telecommunications and sound equipment decreased 42 per cent from €1,138 million to €654 million.
Imports from Singapore decreased 35 per cent from €947m to €613m. Imports from Switzerland increased 48 per cent from €290m to €428 million and imports from China increased 20 per cent from €568 million to €684 million.
