Import rise sees trade surplus fall

JULY saw a 25% fall in Ireland’s seasonally adjusted trade surplus to €3.15 billion, its lowest level for three months.

The fall — due to a stronger performance from imports than exports during the month — comes a month after an all-time record surplus of €4.2bn was recorded in June.

Latest external trade figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published yesterday show the value of Irish exports fell by 12% in July, on a month-by-month basis, to just over €7bn. At the same time, import value was up by 3% to just under €3.9bn, leading to the decline in the trade surplus.