State's trade surplus widened 14% last year

A 10 per cent fall in the value of imports in 2008 contributed to a 14 per cent widening in the State’s trade surplus to €29.2 billion.

External trade data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that the value of road vehicle imports dropped 30 per cent to €3.18 billion.

If a sharp fall in computer equipment is excluded – largely due to changes in the computer assembly sector here – overall exports held relatively steady at €86.2 billion.

Preliminary details for January 2009 show the value of imports declined to €3.94 billion compared to €5.44 billion 12 months ago.

Exports for the month were €7.01 billion, largely unchanged from the €7.11 billion worth of goods sent overseas in January 2008.