Trade surplus expected to top €45 billion - despite month-on-month decline

Theseasonally-adjusted figures for Irish exports dropped to €9.8 billion in September, a four per cent decline on the previous month, according to CSO figures.

Imports rose 6.7 per cent per cent to €6.1 billion during the same month.

The seasonally-adjusted trade surplus was down €831 million over the month to €3.7 billion.

The underlying trend shows that the value of imports for January-September this year was up two per cent on the same period ...