DUBLIN, Ireland: April figures showed a significant improvement in trade between Ireland and the UK, with British exports to Ireland valued at just over £2bn, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That was up 11 percent from the £1.8bn in March and an increase of 43 percent from April 2020.

Indeed, the April 2021 figure was higher than April in 2019 or 2018.

The ONS figures, however, do not indicate whether exports came directly from Britain or over the Northern Ireland border.

However, Ireland’s Central Statistics Office does breakdown the exports and said that the large decrease in imports from Great Britain is being partly compensated for by a rise in imports from Northern Ireland.

Officials were quick to note that Ireland-UK trade has not suffered the same volatility as trade with other EU countries.