Preliminary figures for May 2015 show that seasonally adjusted exports decreased by €437m or 5 percent when compared with April.

Imports also increased by 4 percent to more than €5bn - meaning that the net effect was a 14 percent drop in Ireland's trade surplus - which was almost €4bn.

The EU accounted for €4.8bn (54 percent) of total exports during the month, of which 14 percent went to Belgium.

The USA was the main non-EU destination, accounting for 26 percent of total exports in May 2015.

Exports have increased by 10.4 percent when compared with the same period in 2014 - while the trade surplus is up by 30 percent year-on-year.

Imports of medical and pharmaceutical products increased by 17 percent - while imports of miscellaneous manufactured goods increased by 14 percent.

More than 60 percent of our imports came from EU countries, with 29 percent coming from the UK.

The US was the largest non-EU source of imports accounting for 14 percent, followed by China with 7 percent.