15.02.201806:59:00UTC+00Ireland Trade Surplus Grows In December

Ireland's foreign trade surplus increased in December, as exports grew faster than imports, preliminary data from the Central Statistics Office showed Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted trade surplus rose to EUR 3.85 billion in December from EUR 3.28 billion in November.

In the corresponding month last year, the surplus was EUR 3.6 billion.

Exports climbed 7.0 percent month-on-month in December and imports went up by 2.0 percent.

On an unadjusted basis, exports rose 4.0 percent in December from a year ago, while imports dropped by 2.0 percent.

Data also showed that the trade surplus for 2017 was EUR 45.2 billion. Compared with 2016, both exports and imports increased by 2.0 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively.