Exports grew by 2 per cent in 2004, according to final figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) yesterday.

The figures also confirm that imports rose by 5 per cent over the same period.

The CSO said the rise in exports was mainly due to an increase in pharmaceuticals trade. This buoyancy was however partly cancelled out by weakness in sales of computer equipment.

On the import side, the biggest boost came from the transport sector, or Ryanair's sizeable importation of aircraft.

The total value of exports for 2004 was €83.9 billion, up from €82 billion in the previous year. Imports climbed from €47.9 billion to €50.1 billion.

Preliminary figures for the first month of 2005, also released yesterday, point to a solid pick-up in trade compared to the previous January but a slight decline on December.

Goods worth €6.5 billion were exported in January this year, compared to €6.1 billion in the same month of 2004 and nearly €7 billion in December. Exports also fell between November and December. Imports rose from €3.9 billion in January 2004 to €4.2 billion in the same month of this year. The value of imports stood at €4.6 billion in December.

Economists at Goodbody Stockbrokers declined to place too much stock in the monthly figures, preferring to look at a three-month moving average.

On this basis, Goodbody said, the pace of decline in exports eased last month, while the pace of growth in imports also fell back a touch.