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A sharp increase in trade across the Irish border continued in April, official figures suggest.

The value of NI exports to Ireland more than doubled year-on-year from €137m to €296m (£117m to £255m).

Those figures are likely affected by a generally reduced level of trade in April 2020 due to the pandemic.

However for the whole January to April period NI exports to Ireland were up by 60% to more than €1bn (£859m).

The figures from Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO) also showed the value of Irish exports to NI increasing.

In January to April they were up 40% to €977m (£841m).

Since the NI Protocol began operating in January, it has become more difficult for businesses in either part of Ireland to import goods from Great Britain.

Northern Ireland has remained in the EU's single market for goods, which means that products arriving from Great Britain are subject to new checks and controls.

Goods arriving from Great Britain into the Republic of Ireland face similar processes.

However, goods trade across the Irish border remains as it was before Brexit, with no new checks and controls.

That may have prompted some businesses to source more products on the island of Ireland rather than from GB.

The CSO figures also show that trade between Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland has reduced since the start of the year.

The total value of GB exports to Ireland were down by €2bn (£1.7bn) or 39% to €3.3bn (£2.8bn) year-on-year in the January to April period.

By contrast Irish exports to GB were up almost 8% year-on-year to €4.1bn (£3.4bn); that may reflect the fact that the UK has still not imposed full import controls on EU goods.

Official figures showing trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain are only published on an annual basis, so it may be 2022 before there is solid data on how Brexit and the Irish Sea border has had an impact on those relationships.