Ireland's exports of goods hit a record high of 16.2 billion euros (about 17.5 billion U.S. dollars) in March, according to the latest figures released by the country's Central Statistics Office.

The value of the goods exported by Ireland in March represented a 39-percent increase over a year ago.

In March, Ireland imported a total of 6.95 billion euros worth of goods, down 9.45 percent when compared with the same month last year.

The country's trade surplus for March stood at about 9.3 billion euros, up nearly 133 percent year-on-year.

In the first quarter of this year, the total goods exported by Ireland were valued at about 42.35 billion euros, up by almost 13 percent year-on-year whereas its total imported goods were valued at about 21.83 billion euros, down less than 0.1 percent year-on-year.

The country's trade surplus for the first quarter of this year increased by more than 30 percent to 20.5 billion euros when compared with the corresponding period of last year. (1 euro = 1.082 U.S. dollars)