The value of trade between the Republic and the rest of the world dropped by 20 per cent in the first four months of the year compared to the same period 12 months earlier, data released from the Central Statistics Office today showed.
On an annual basis exports dropped from €32.8 billion for January to April 2002 to €26.3 billion for the same period this year.
This decline suggests Irish exporters came under pressure from faltering global demand.
However, the seasonally adjusted trade figures show that exports for this April grew by 10 per cent to €6.9 billion compared with March. This gave a annual trade surplus of €3.05 billion, a rise of 2 per cent.
The CSO also attached a proviso to the annual data, noting that they were influenced by "a very significant fall" in the pattern of some electrical machinery trade with Britain in 2002.
Exports in this sector fell back by 65 per cent to €1.6 billion on an annual basis, while exports to Britain were almost halved to €4.5 billion.
There was fragility in other sectors with organic chemicals exports falling 21 per cent and the value of computer equipment exports dropping 18 per cent to €4.8 billion.