Ireland’s €32.4bn trade surplus third highest in EU

IRELAND had the third highest trade surplus in the EU for the first nine months of the year at €32.4 billion — worth a third of the value of the Germany surplus.

The German surplus was €117.9bn and that for the Netherlands was €32.8bn.

However, at 4% the growth of Irish exports was the smallest growth of the EU 27, while the growth in imports was the third smallest at 6%.

The first estimate for euro area trade with the rest of the world in October gave a €1.1bn surplus, down from €3.1bn in October last year.

The EU 27 showed a deficit of €13.9bn.

The biggest deficits were registered by Britain at €88.1bn for January to September, followed by France (€65.8bn), Spain (€36.7bn), Italy (€23.1bn), Greece (€13.2bn) and Portugal (€12.4bn).

EU trade grew with all its major partners in the nine months up September compared to the same period in 2010, with exports to Russia up almost 30%, Turkey up 26%, China 21%, and India 20%.

The trade surplus with the US increased slightly from €52.4bn to €55.1bn over the nine months and it also increased with Russia and Norway.

The deficit fell with China, Japan, and South Korea.