Food and live animal exports from the Republic of Ireland were up 7.3% in the first two months of the year to €1,598m, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Exports of food and live animals to Britain were up 8.0% in the first two months of 2017 to €592m and food exports to the rest of the EU were also up in January and February to €545m, representing a 1.1% increase year on year.

Meat exports were up 4.8% to €572m and exports of food classified as “dairy products and birds’ eggs” were up 14.7% to €249m.

Imports

Irish food and animal imports were up 4.8% in January and February to €1,105m. Food imports from Britain were up by 2.1% to €432m and the value of food from the rest of the EU was up by 9.7% in the two-month period, amounting to €486m.

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