In monthly terms, August saw a year-on-year rise of 3.3 percent in exports with imports advancing 1.7 percent on 2014 whilst those figures were respectively up 4.8 percent and down 0.9 percent on July 2015.
This closed the trade deficit by €331.1 million to stand at €2.425 billion with a coverage rate of 83.9 percent, up 2.7 percent year-on-year.
The INE also reported that the rise in imports over the first half of 2015 was largely attributable to the vehicle transport industry that surged 21.4 percent year-on-year and hence continued the recovery that stretches back to 2013 following the steep falls in such imports over the two preceding years.
The numbers also demonstrate that the 3.3 percent rise in exports stemmed from rising sales of machinery and devices, other products and vehicles and other transport materials and to European Union markets given that non-EU exports dipped fractionally, by 0.5 percent, over this first six months.
Excluding fuels and lubricants, August saw exports rise an annualised 6.1 percent while imports added a further 5.4 percent with the INE stating that the month traditionally registers a slowdown due to the vacation period commonly taken in this time.