DUBLIN: Goods exports took €8.92bn in July, down €1.5bn from the previous month, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The European Union accounted for €4.5bn (or 49%) of the overall sum, with €1bn going to Belgium and Britain each. Meanwhile, goods imports decreased 10.7% in July, down by €644 million to €5.39bn.
The seasonally-adjusted trade surplus saw a 13% reduction of €510 million, placing it at a little over €3.527bn by the end of July. This was only slightly above the €3.523m low reported in March of this year. Uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the higher value of the euro versus the sterling were behind dents in our global trading activity.
The Irish Examiner reports Merrion Stockbrokers chief economist Alan McQuaid as saying of the new figures:
“Business and consumer confidence have been dented in recent months by the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. “However, the trade data for the first half of the year were quite positive, though we expect to see a slowdown in acitivity in the second half of 2016 and July numbers would tend to bear this out.” Earlier this month, it was reported that Ireland’s services exports growth fell to a five-month low in August.
The decline came as a result of fewer orders from the UK due to the weakened sterling, according to the Purchasing Managers’ Index for the sector. Expansion in business was also at its weakest for around two and a half years. Despite this, activity overall was up, with business sentiment improving for the second month in a row. Half of all survey respondents predicted a rise in activity in the second half of the year.
