Trade surplus falls 41% to €2.9bn

Ireland’s seasonally adjusted trade surplus fell by 41%, to €2.9bn, in September — marking the first time the monthly surplus has been below the €3bn mark since last December.

The surplus had reached a high of €4.88bn in August.

Preliminary figures, published yesterday by the CSO, indicate that the value of Irish exports dipped by nearly €1.8bn — or 19% — to €7.31bn during September. This compared to a monthly high value of almost €9.1bn in August. Helping to drive down the trade surplus was a 5% monthly increase in import value to €4.41bn.