Patent cliff hits trade surplus

The trade surplus narrowed to its lowest level since 2008 as the patent cliff hit the profits of the multinational drug companies based in Ireland.

As the trade surplus narrowed, the price of household goods for consumers nudged upwards, increasing by 0.2% in December, according to figures from the CSO.

Investec chief economist Philip O’Sullivan said the two sets of figures from the CSO paint very different stories of the domestic economy and Ireland’s multinational exporters.