The seasonally adjusted trade figures from March show a decline in both exports and imports, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The CSO said exports decreased by 4 per cent to €6,767 million, while imports decreased by 8 per cent to €4,072 million.
In February, relative to January, the flows decreased marginally to €7,040 million for exports and €4,403 million for imports.
The unadjusted merchandise trade for March 2005, when compared with the same month in the previous year, gives exports of € 7,570 million, a decrease of € 546 million (down 7 per cent), and imports of € 4,477 million, an increase of € 146 million (up 3 per cent).
The corresponding February trade was €6,632 million for exports, a decrease of €191 million (down 3 per cent) on February 2004, and €4,251 million for imports, an increase of €364 million (up 9 per cent).
On a year-on-year basis, the figures for January to February show that medical and pharmaceutical products increased from €2,148 million to €2,403 million (up 12 per cent), while computer equipment fell from €2,101 million to €1,891 million (down 10 per cent).