DUBLIN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Ireland's trade surplus hit a four-month high of 4.92 billion euros (5.76 billion U.S. dollars) in May, according to the statistics released by the country's national statistics bureau CSO on Monday.

In May, Ireland exported a total of 11.71 billion euros of goods while its goods imports stood at 6.79 billion euros with a trade surplus up by 1.79 billion euros or 57 percent when compared with the same month of last year, showed the CSO statistics.

The trade surplus in May was the highest monthly figure since February of this year, said the CSO.

The CSO figures also showed that during the first five months of this year, Ireland exported a total of 56.29 billion euros of goods, up 7 percent year-on-year while its total imported goods were valued at 33.18 billion euros, down 0.3 percent year-on-year.

The country's total trade surplus in the period was 23.1 billion euros, an increase of 3.82 billion euros compared with the same period last year, said the CSO.

The European Union (EU) continued to be the largest market for both Irish exported and imported goods with the Irish goods exported to and imported from the EU standing at 27.67 billion euros and 20.48 billion euros respectively in the first five months of this year, it said.

The United State was the largest non-EU market for both Irish exported and imported goods with the Irish goods exported to and imported from the market standing at 16.19 billion euros and 5.73 billion euros respectively in the January-May period of this year, according to the CSO.