Ireland sees 18 pct import growth in November

Ireland's goods imports increased by 938 million euros (997 million U.S. dollars), or 18 percent year on year, to 6.2 billion euros in November 2016, official data revealed on Wednesday.

Exports for November 2016 dropped by 1 percent year on year to 10.2 billion euros, leading to a decrease of 995 million euros or 20 percent in the trade surplus to 4 billion euros, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

CSO figures also showed the value of goods exports for the year to November 2016 was 107.9 billion euros, an increase of 4.8 billion euros from a year ago.

While the value of goods imports was 63.9 billion euros, an increase of 813 million euros, compared with the first eleven months of 2015.

The European Union (EU) accounted for 5.5 billion euros or 50 percent of total goods exports in November 2016, of which 1.6 billion euros went to Britain and 1.3 billion euros to Belgium.

On the imports front, the EU accounted for 3.8 billion euros or 55 percent of the value of goods imports in November 2016, with 1.4 billion euros or 22 percent of total imports coming from Britain. Endit