The Brexit-related crash in sterling reduced the value of Irish goods exports to Britain by about half a billion last year, the latest trade figures show.
According to the Central Statistics Office, exports to Britain fell by €496 million to €13.3 billion in 2016.
The value of Irish exports in total rose to nearly €117 billion last year, the highest annual total on record. This represented an increase of €4.5 billionon the previous year’s total. At the same time, imports fell by €507 million to €69.6 billion, resulting in a preliminary trade surplus for 2016 of €47.3 billion.
The largest increase in exports was of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances which increased by €4.4 billion.