Irish Trade Surplus Shrinks In January

(RTTNews) - Ireland's foreign trade surplus decreased in January from a month ago as exports fell faster than imports, figures from the Central Statistics Office showed on Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted trade surplus dropped to EUR 4.2 billion in January from EUR 4.7 billion in the previous month. In the corresponding month last year, the trade balance showed a surplus of EUR 12.2 billion.

Exports posted a monthly decline of 3.0 percent in January, while imports fell only by 0.7 percent.

The unadjusted trade surplus shrank sharply to EUR 4.8 billion in January from EUR 13.9 billion in the corresponding month last year. Exports plunged 35.0 percent from last year, while imports climbed by 3.1 percent.

Exports to the US tumbled 71.7 percent annually in January amid a slump in outflows of chemicals and related products, and imports fell by 33.9 percent. Data showed that exports to Great Britain logged a growth of 47.3 percent.