Irish Trade Surplus Shrinks In February

(RTTNews) - Ireland's foreign trade surplus decreased in February as imports grew faster than exports, figures from the Central Statistics Office showed on Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted trade surplus dropped to EUR 12.9 billion in February from EUR 13.8 billion in the previous month.

In the corresponding month last year, the trade balance showed a surplus of EUR 7.0 billion.

Exports logged a monthly growth of 2.8 percent in February, while imports surged by 14.8 percent.

On an unadjusted basis, however, exports jumped 54.3 percent annually in February, and imports were 14.5 percent higher compared to last year. As a result, the trade surplus increased markedly to EUR 12.9 billion from EUR 5.7 billion last year.

Exports to the United States advanced by EUR 8.7 billion, or 210.5 percent, in February compared with the same month last year, the agency said.