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Ireland's exports reach all-time high in April

Xinhua, June 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Ireland's goods exports increased by 12 percent to 9.3 billion euros (10.45 billion U.S. dollars) in April, the highest monthly figure on record, according to official statistics on Monday.

Meanwhile, the statistics from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that imports for April decreased by 279 million euros or 6 percent.

This leads to a "significant" increase of 1.3 billion euros or 38 percent in trade surplus to 4.6 billion euros in April, the CSO said.

The main driver behind the April increase was the increase in the exports of medical and pharmaceutical products of 1.1 billion euros or 63 percent to 2.7 billion euros, it said, adding that the exports of organic chemicals also increased by 560 million euros or 40 percent in April.

The European Union (EU) accounted for 51 percent of Ireland's total exports in April, of which 15 percent went to Belgium alone. The United States was the main non-EU destination, accounting for 24 percent of total exports for the month.

Monday's figures also showed imports of chemicals and related products rose by 25 percent in April, while imports of miscellaneous manufacturing articles rose by 28 percent.

The EU accounted for 61 percent of the value of imports in April, with 27 percent of total imports coming from the United Kingdom. The United States and China were the main non-EU sources of imports. Enditem