IRELAND'S trade surplus narrowed in February, although exports are still growing in double digit figures. The trade surplus, or balance of exports over imports in February, was £788.7 million from £808.5 million in January. This was still substantially higher than in February last year when the surplus was £565.5 million.

Analysts said it was hard to gauge long term trends from one month's figures. The figures were extremely influenced by only a small handful of companies. Late shipments or a week's downtime in just one factory could seriously distort the figures, said Mr Eoin Fahy, chief economist Ulster Bank Markets.