Preliminary figures from the Central Statistics Office for December show the balance of exports over imports falling back to £1.26 billion (£1.6 billion) from £1.48 billion in November.

Exports in December stood at £3.9 billion, down from £4.3 billion in November, while imports for December were £2.64 billion, down from £2.8 billion during the previous month.

Exports of organic chemicals increased by 88 per cent, from £3.77 billion to £7.1 billion, while exports of computer equipment rose by 31 per cent, from £7.1 billion to £9.3 billion.