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For more information on this release:
E-mail: nat_acc@cso.ie Michael Connolly (+353) 1 498 4006 Peter Culhane (+353) 1 498 4382
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information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-5600
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Quarterly Institutional Sector Accounts Non-Financial

Quarter 4 2019

Gross Saving by Institutional Sector€million
 Non-Financial Corporations S.11Financial Corporations S.12General Government S.13Households incl. NPISH S.14 & S.15
201886,7666,7407,42011,447
201983,5278,64110,29312,919

Saving increased in 2019

Gross Saving by Institutional Sector 2018 – 2019
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Preliminary estimates for 2019 indicate that saving increased in 2019 for households, government and financial corporations. Gross household saving increased by €1,472m to €12,919m in the year. Total disposable income of households (B.6g+D.8) increased from €111,972m in 2018 to €118,551m in 2019 – growth of €6,579m (+5.9%). Higher wages (D.1) (+€7,171m) was the biggest factor in the change. In the same period household expenditure (P.3) also increased by €5,107m (+5.1%) from €100,525m to €105,632m. 

The derived saving ratio, which expresses saving as a percentage of total disposable income, increased from 10.2 per cent in 2018 to 10.9 per cent in 2019.

On a seasonally adjusted basis the quarterly total disposable income of households (B.6g + D.8) was €30,149m in Q4 2019 – an increase of €239m compared with Q3 2019. Quarterly household expenditure (P.3) rose by €114m over the same period (€26,681m in Q4 2019 compared with €26,567m in Q3 2019). The derived gross saving ratio increased from 11.2 per cent in Q3 2019 to 11.5 per cent in Q4 2019 (see Background Notes - definitions).

 

The seasonally adjusted data series which includes Gross Disposable Income, Personal Consumption of Goods and Services and Gross Saving of the Household incl. NPISH sector is available here. The entire unadjusted series for all variables published in this release are also available at the same link. See Background Notes for definitions of the terms used.

  

Improvement in government saving

The gross saving of Government (B.8g) amounted to €10,293m in 2019 – an improvement of €2,872m on the 2018 saving figure of €7,420m. This increase is largely explained by higher income and corporation taxes (D.5) up €2,071m (6%) and taxes on products and production like VAT (D.2) up €1942m (8%). 

On the capital side, investment (P.5) by government in 2019 was €8,133m, up from €6,584m the previous year as capital spending on housing, health and transport infrastructure increased. Taken together with the saving result, this led to government being a net lender (B.9) of €1,646m in 2019.

Non-financial (S.11) and Financial (S.12) Corporations

The gross saving of non-financial corporations were €83,527m in 2019 – a decrease of €3,239m compared with the 2018 figure of €86,766m. There was an increase of €8,352m in gross operating surplus (B.2g/B.3g) but a larger increase in net outflows of investment income (D4: interest, dividends and reinvested earnings) of €11,232m. Net borrowing (B.9) by the sector increased by €56,672m. This growth in borrowing was to fund greater capital investment, particularly purchases of intellectual property.

Financial corporations had gross saving of €8,641m in 2019 – up from €6,740m in 2018. This is explained primarily by an increase in net investment income of €1,546m.

Rest of the World Sector (S.2)

The net lending (B.9) by the rest of the world from Ireland is equal and opposite of the net borrowing of the whole domestic economy. The rest of the world was a net lender of €67,284m in 2019 up from €18,746m the previous year. As we saw, this increase in borrowing was largely to fund increased capital investment in intellectual property (P.5 capital investment of domestic sectors was up €75,111m). This investment was largely in imports and was funded by loans from abroad.

Table 1: Quarterly Accounts by Institutional Sector, Q1 2018 - Q4 2019 Summary€million
  Key VariablesQuarterS.2 Rest of WorldS.1 Total EconomyS.1N Not SectorisedS.11 Non-Financial CorporationsS.12 Financial CorporationsS.13 General GovernmentS.14+S.15 Households incl. NPISH
(a)B.1*gGross Domestic ProductQ1 2018 78,9406,93053,0444,8056,8967,265
   Q2 2018 76,8585,35752,8334,8806,8376,951
   Q3 2018 84,6004,89759,2725,4146,6398,378
   Q4 2018 83,6403,77859,4195,4236,7248,296
   2018 324,03820,962224,56720,52227,09730,890
   Q1 2019 83,9546,98356,5055,1247,3927,949
   Q2 2019 82,4514,95057,4365,2477,2537,565
   Q3 2019 90,6736,98061,7985,6377,1019,157
   Q4 2019 90,1386,08662,1185,7837,1928,960
   2019 347,21525,000237,85621,79028,93833,631
           
(b)B.2g/B.3gGross Operating Surplus /Q1 2018 50,1791,20338,4892,7051,2176,565
  Mixed incomeQ2 2018 49,0751,10937,7522,6221,2176,375
   Q3 2018 54,639-1,53443,8633,2561,2177,838
   Q4 2018 54,409-1,29743,5933,1941,2177,702
   2018 208,302-519163,69711,7774,86828,479
   Q1 2019 52,52074240,4992,8551,2507,174
   Q2 2019 52,43819841,2312,8391,2506,920
   Q3 2019 58,53226745,1993,2941,2508,522
   Q4 2019 58,76077545,1203,2551,2508,360
   2019 222,2501,982172,04812,2435,00030,976
           
(c)D.1_D.4Net Primary IncomeQ1 2018 12,0780-16,328-2015,12323,485
   Q2 2018 11,3980-16,111-1,3364,30724,538
   Q3 2018 13,3940-16,157-3265,67424,203
   Q4 2018 9,0120-19,911-7354,53925,118
   2018 45,8810-68,507-2,59719,64297,344
   Q1 2019 12,7550-18,8332415,89025,456
   Q2 2019 9,3110-20,769-1,2105,39725,893
   Q3 2019 11,2090-20,819486,36625,614
   Q4 2019 12,2320-19,319-1295,06826,612
   2019 45,5070-79,739-1,05122,722103,575
           
(d)B.5gGross National IncomeQ1 2018 62,2571,20322,1612,5046,34030,050
  = (b + c)Q2 2018 60,4731,10921,6411,2875,52430,912
   Q3 2018 68,033-1,53427,7052,9306,89132,040
   Q4 2018 63,420-1,29723,6822,4595,75632,820
   2018 254,183-51995,1899,18024,510125,823
   Q1 2019 65,27474221,6663,0967,14032,629
   Q2 2019 61,74919820,4621,6296,64732,813
   Q3 2019 69,74126724,3803,3427,61634,137
   Q4 2019 70,99277525,8013,1266,31834,972
   2019 267,7571,98292,30911,19327,722134,551
           
(e)D.5_D.7Net Current TransfersQ1 2018 -9000-5254042,665-3,444
   Q2 2018 -8710-2,791-2325,563-3,411
   Q3 2018 -7530-9633503,238-3,378
   Q4 2018 -7180-4,144-62110,007-5,959
   2018 -3,2420-8,423-9821,472-16,192
   Q1 2019 -12590-5163732,741-3,856
   Q2 2019 -5810-2,900-4576,580-3,804
   Q3 2019 -7860-1,369-1474,220-3,489
   Q4 2019 -6400-3,997-79710,527-6,374
   2019 -3,2660-8,782-1,02824,068-17,523
           
(f)B.6gGross Disposable IncomeQ1 2018 61,3571,20321,6362,9089,00426,605
  = (d + e)Q2 2018 59,6021,10918,8501,05511,08727,502
   Q3 2018 67,280-1,53426,7423,28110,12928,662
   Q4 2018 62,703-1,29719,5381,83815,76226,861
   2018 250,941-51986,7669,08145,982109,631
   Q1 2019 64,01674221,1503,4699,88128,773
   Q2 2019 61,16819817,5621,17213,22729,009
   Q3 2019 68,95626723,0103,19511,83630,648
   Q4 2019 70,35277521,8042,32916,84528,598
   2019 264,4911,98283,52710,16451,790117,028
           
(g)P.3 + D.8Use of Disposable IncomeQ1 2018 -33,64200-547-9,007-24,088
   Q2 2018 -33,86700-583-9,546-23,739
   Q3 2018 -35,06400-624-10,177-24,263
   Q4 2018 -36,51300-588-9,831-26,093
   2018 -139,08700-2,341-38,562-98,184
   Q1 2019 -35,72700-509-9,741-25,477
   Q2 2019 -35,82500-392-10,060-25,373
   Q3 2019 -37,08900-250-11,012-25,827
   Q4 2019 -38,48900-373-10,684-27,432
   2019 -147,12900-1,523-41,497-104,109
           
(h)B.8gGross SavingQ1 2018 27,7151,20321,6362,362-32,517
  = (f + g)Q2 2018 25,7341,10918,8504721,5413,763
   Q3 2018 32,216-1,53426,7422,657-484,399
   Q4 2018 26,190-1,29719,5381,2505,931768
   2018 111,854-51986,7666,7407,42011,447
   Q1 2019 28,28974221,1502,9601403,297
   Q2 2019 25,34319817,5627803,1673,636
   Q3 2019 31,86726723,0102,9458244,820
   Q4 2019 31,86377521,8041,9566,1611,166
   2019 117,3621,98283,5278,64110,29312,919
           
(i) Changes in Capital AccountsQ1 2018 2,7571,2032,835-245-777-260
   Q2 2018 4,1101,1095,246-507-1,185-552
   Q3 2018 -1,055-1,5341,570-263-442-386
   Q4 2018 -57,144-1,297-54,020-402-860-565
   2018 -51,332-519-44,369-1,416-3,264-1,764
   Q1 2019 -3,419742-2,131-231-1,208-591
   Q2 2019 -47,540198-45,951-249-1,152-387
   Q3 2019 -3,710267-1,926-295-866-889
   Q4 2019 -43,841775-41,764-589-1,278-984
   2019 -98,5111,982-91,773-1,364-4,504-2,852
           
(j)P.51CConsumption of Fixed Capital1Q1 2018 19,583 16,8084281,0361,312
   Q2 2018 19,660 16,8784291,0361,317
   Q3 2018 19,778 16,9844321,0361,326
   Q4 2018 20,247 17,4104431,0361,359
   2018 79,268 68,0791,7324,1435,314
   Q1 2019 20,623 17,7044421,0361,441
   Q2 2019 21,561 18,5524631,0361,510
   Q3 2019 21,818 18,7844691,0361,529
   Q4 2019 22,133 19,0694761,0361,552
   2019 86,135 74,1081,8524,1436,032
           
(k)B.9Net lending (+) / Net borrowing (-)Q1 2018-10,88910,8892,4067,6631,689-1,815945
  = (h + i) - jQ2 2018-10,18410,1842,2177,217-464-6801,893
   Q3 2018-11,38311,384-3,06811,3281,962-1,5262,687
   Q4 201851,202-51,202-2,594-51,8914044,035-1,156
   201818,746-18,746-1,039-25,6823,592144,370
   Q1 2019-4,2474,2471,4851,3152,287-2,1041,264
   Q2 201943,758-43,758396-46,941689801,739
   Q3 2019-6,3406,3405342,3002,181-1,0772,402
   Q4 201934,111-34,1111,550-39,0298903,848-1,370
   201967,284-67,2843,964-82,3545,4261,6464,035
Table 1.2 Generation of Income Account€million
RESOURCES (RECEIVED)S.1+S.2 Sum Over SectorsS.2 Rest of WorldS.1 Total EconomyS.1N Not SectorisedS.11 Non-Financial CorporationsS.12 Financial CorporationsS.13 General GovernmentS.14+S.15 Households incl. NPISH
B.1*gGross Domestic Product  90,1386,08662,1185,7837,1928,960
D.3Subsidies, Received1,047 1,04728428900474
USES (PAID)         
D.1Compensation of Employees26,01113125,880 16,7022,3215,942915
D.2Taxes on Production and Imports, Paid6,546 6,5465,5955852060159
B.2g/ B.3gGross Operating Surplus/ Gross Mixed Income  58,76077545,1203,2551,2508,360
Table 1.3 Allocation of Primary Income Account€million
RESOURCES (RECEIVED)S.1+S.2 Sum Over SectorsS.2 Rest of WorldS.1 Total EconomyS.1N Not SectorisedS.11 Non-Financial CorporationsS.12 Financial CorporationsS.13 General GovernmentS.14+S.15 Households incl. NPISH
B.2g/ B.3gGross Operating Surplus/ Gross Mixed income  58,76077545,1203,2551,2508,360
D.1Compensation of Employees26,01122325,788    25,788
D.2Taxes on Production and Imports, Received6,546956,450   6,450 
D.4Property Income95,20155,56939,632 16,02221,8642091,538
D.41Interest25,7117,96117,750 95316,21934543
D.42Distributed Income of Corporations10,8406,8214,019 1193,213146541
D.43Reinvested Earnings on Direct Foreign Investment45,05228,15316,899 14,9351,96400
D.44Property Income attributed to Insurance Policy Holders13,50912,633876 144680394
D.45Rents88 88 002860
USES (PAID)        
D.3Subsidies, Paid1,047511536   536 
D.4Property Income95,20136,09859,102 35,34021,9931,055714
D.41Interest25,71115,40310,308 3,4895,1101,055654
D.42Distributed Income of Corporations10,8403,3317,509 6,2691,24100
D.43Reinvested Earnings on Direct Foreign Investment45,05216,89928,153 25,5542,59900
D.44Property Income attributed to Insurance Policy Holders13,50946613,043 013,04300
D.45Rents88 88 280060
B.5gGross National Income  70,99277525,8013,1266,31834,972
Table 1.5 Secondary Distribution of Income Account€million
RESOURCES (RECEIVED)S.1+S.2 Sum Over SectorsS.2 Rest of WorldS.1 Total EconomyS.1N Not SectorisedS.11 Non-Financial CorporationsS.12 Financial CorporationsS.13 General GovernmentS.14+S.15 Households incl. NPISH
B.5gGross National Income  70,99277525,8013,1266,31834,972
D.5Current Taxes on Income, Wealth, etc.13,8112013,791   13,791 
D.61Social Contributions5,48405,484 01,5433,9410
D.62Social Benefits other than Social Transfers in kind7,804807,723    7,723
D.7Other Current Transfers6,3182,0804,238 1372,4701471,484
USES (PAID)        
D.5Current Taxes on Income, Wealth, etc.13,811013,811 3,9141,15308,743
D.61Net Social Contributions5,48405,484    5,484
D.62Social Benefits other than Social Transfers in kind7,804807,724 01,1706,5540
D.7Other Current Transfers6,3181,4594,858 2192,4867991,354
B.6gGross Disposable Income  70,35277521,8042,32916,84528,598
Table 1.6 Use of Disposable Income Account€million
RESOURCES (RECEIVED)S.1+S.2 Sum Over SectorsS.2 Rest of WorldS.1 Total EconomyS.1N Not SectorisedS.11 Non-Financial CorporationsS.12 Financial CorporationsS.13 General GovernmentS.14+S.15 Households incl. NPISH
B.6gGross Disposable Income  70,35277521,8042,32916,84528,598
D.8Adjustment for the Change in Pension Entitlements3730373    373
USES (PAID)        
P.3Final Consumption Expenditure  38,489   10,68427,805
D.8Adjustment for the Change in Pension Entitlements3730373  373  
B.8gGross Saving  31,86377521,8041,9566,1611,166
Table 1.7 External Account€million
RESOURCES (RECEIVED)S.1+S.2 Sum Over SectorsS.2 Rest of WorldS.1 Total EconomyS.1N Not SectorisedS.11 Non-Financial CorporationsS.12 Financial CorporationsS.13 General GovernmentS.14+S.15 Households incl. NPISH
P.7Imports of Goods and Services 126,924      
D.1 to D.8Primary Incomes and Current Transfers162,59358,066104,527     
USES (PAID)        
P.6Exports of Goods and Services 118,272      
B.11External Balance of Goods & Services 8,652      
D.1 to D.8Primary Incomes and Current Transfers162,59338,280124,313     
B.12Current External Balance 28,439      
Table 1.8 Change in Net Worth due to Saving and Capital Transfers Account€million
LIABILITIESS.1+S.2 Sum Over SectorsS.2 Rest of WorldS.1 Total EconomyS.1N Not SectorisedS.11 Non-Financial CorporationsS.12 Financial CorporationsS.13 General GovernmentS.14+S.15 Households incl. NPISH
B.8gGross Saving   31,86377521,8041,9566,1611,166
B.12Current External Balance 28,439      
D.9Capital Transfers117051165 2950476394
ASSETS        
D.9Capital Transfers1,17071,163 1240689350
P.51cConsumption of Fixed Capital   22,133 19,0694761,0361,552
B.10.1Changes in Net Worth due to Saving and Capital Transfers38,16928,4379,7327752,9061,4804,912-342
Table 1.9 Acquisition of Non-Financial Assets Account€million
LIABILITIESS.1+S.2 Sum Over SectorsS.2 Rest of WorldS.1 Total EconomyS.1N Not SectorisedS.11 Non-Financial CorporationsS.12 Financial CorporationsS.13 General GovernmentS.14+S.15 Households incl. NPISH
B.10.1Changes in Net Worth due to Saving and Capital Transfers38,16928,4379,7327752,9061,4804,912-342
P.51cConsumption of Fixed Capital 22,133 22,133 19,0694761,0361,552
ASSETS        
P.5Gross Capital Formation60,302 60,302-77555,3301,0662,1002,581
NPAcquisitions less Disposals of Non-Produced Assets0-5,6745,674 5,674000
B.9Net Lending (+)/ Net Borrowing (-)034,111-34,1111,550-39,0298903,848-1,370

Background Notes

Revisions in this release

Revisions to quarters of 2019 have been made in line with the main Quarterly National Accounts.

Description of Institutional Sectors

In the Sector Accounts, Institutional Sectors are distinguished not in terms of the nature of their production activity (such as agriculture, industry, services, etc.) but rather in terms primarily of the institutional form of the units that make them up. Thus, companies, whether engaged in commercial non-financial or financial business, are grouped in a different sector from households, even though the latter are in many cases also engaged in commercial production, and from government or other non-market producers such as voluntary agencies.

Institutional Sectors

The classification system is that of the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA2010). The sectors and sub-sectors distinguished in the present publication are as follows:

S.1 Resident Economy is the sum of all the sectors of the domestic economy.

S.11 Non-Financial Corporations are corporate bodies producing goods and non-financial services on a commercial basis. They include public limited companies, private companies and other corporate forms of business, whether owned by residents (including the government) or non-residents or both. In particular, therefore, Irish subsidiaries of foreign companies and the Irish branches of foreign companies operating in Ireland on a branch basis are included; while the foreign subsidiaries of Irish companies and the foreign branches of Irish companies operating abroad are excluded (they form part of the Rest of World sector S.2). The business activities of large partnerships (quasi-corporations) are included here. Under the implementation of ESA2010, entities which operate as holding companies for non-financial corporations are now classified in the financial sector.

S.12 Financial Corporations are corporate bodies producing financial services on a commercial basis. As with S.11, they can take various legal forms, with a range of ownership arrangements. They include banks, insurance corporations and pension funds.

S.13 General Government consists of central and local government. Central government includes the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (formerly the NPRF), and non-commercial agencies owned and funded by government, but does not include commercial state-owned companies (which are proper to S.11 or S.12 as appropriate).

S.1M: S.14 + S.15 Households and Non-Profit Institutions Serving Households. S.14 accounts are the economic transactions of people in their capacity as consumers, employees, self-employed workers, pensioners and recipients of other income and transfers. S.15 consists of non-profit institutions such as charities and non-commercial agencies not owned by the government, such as sports clubs and churches.

S.2 Rest of World. This sector represents the economy's transactions with non-residents. The conceptual definition is the same as in the Balance of Payments (BOP) statistics. In particular, non-residents include foreign subsidiaries of Irish companies, the foreign branches of Irish companies that operate abroad on a branch basis, and the head offices of foreign companies that operate in Ireland on a branch basis.

S.1N Not Sectorised. In the non-financial accounts an additional residual sector is used to report taxes and subsidies on products (D.21) in the Generation of Income Account (Account 1.2) as it is not possible to allocate these amounts to Institutional Sectors. In addition, throughout these accounts S.1N is used to report the amounts that appear as the statistical discrepancy in the National Income and Expenditure GDP accounts, arising from the use of two independent estimates of GDP (from the Income and Expenditure approaches). In the Annual National Accounts NIE tables 3 and 5, the official estimate of GDP is reported as the average of the two measures, and the discrepancy is therefore displayed as half the difference between the two independent estimates (and thus with different signs in the two tables). The discrepancy is projected forward on a quarterly basis in line with the trends in the Expenditure components and is presented in Table 2 of the Quarterly National Accounts. In the Quarterly Sector Accounts it appears in Gross Domestic Product, the opening item in the Generation of Income Account and is then carried through successive accounts via the balancing item.

Description of Detailed Non-Financial Accounts

Sector Accounts present a coherent overview of all economic processes and the roles played by the various sectors. Each economic process is described in a separate account. The accounts describe successively: generation of income, primary and secondary income distribution, final consumption, redistribution by means of capital transfers, and capital formation. Note that the Production Account (1.1) from the Annual Accounts is not included in these quarterly accounts as the data is not available on a quarterly basis. The accounts record economic transactions, distinguishing between uses and resources (e.g. the resources side of the transaction category Interest (D.41) records the amounts of interest receivable by the different sectors of the economy and the uses side shows interest payable) with a special item to balance the two sides of each account. By passing on the balancing item from one account to the next a connection is created between successive accounts.

The accounts are compiled for the total economy and include accounts for separate domestic sectors and the Rest of World sector. In this way the sector accounts describe:

  • for each economic process the role of each sector, for instance General Government in income redistribution and Financial Corporations in financing.
  • for each sector all economic transactions and their relation with other domestic sectors and the Rest of World.

The successive accounts are explained in more detail below. 

Current Accounts

1.1 Production Account

This account is not presented in the Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts as quarterly data is not available.

1.2 Generation of Income Account

This account displays the transactions through which Gross Domestic Product at market prices is distributed to labour (compensation of employees), capital (operating surplus) and government (the balance of taxes and subsidies on production). The balancing item for the Household and NPISH sector in this account is called mixed income, because apart from operating surplus it also contains compensation for work by self-employed persons and their family members. Gross Operating Surplus/Gross Mixed Income (B.2g/B.3g) is the balancing item for the entire account.

1.3 Allocation of Primary Income Account

This account records, as resources, the income from direct participation in the production process, as well as property income received in exchange for the use of land, financial resources and other intangible assets. In addition, this account records the taxes on production and imports received by the government. On the uses side, property income (including interest, dividends, reinvested earnings and land rent) is recorded as well as the subsidies paid by the government.

On this account the interest paid and received are recorded excluding imputed bank services (financial intermediation services indirectly measured - FISIM). In the national accounts insurance technical reserves are seen as a liability of insurance enterprises and pension funds to policyholders. Therefore, the receipts from investing these reserves are recorded as payments from insurance enterprises and pension funds to households, under Other Investment Income (D.44). The balancing item of this account for each sector is Gross National Income (B.5g). The Primary Income for the total economy is the National Income.

1.4 Memorandum-Entrepreneurial Income Account

This account is not presented in the Quarterly series.

1.5 Secondary Distribution of Income Account

The Secondary Distribution of Income Account shows how primary income is redistributed by means of current taxes on income and wealth, social contributions (including contributions to pension schemes), social benefits (including pension benefits) and other current transfers. The balancing item of this account is Gross Disposable Income (B.6g). For the consuming sectors (Households, NPISH and General Government) this item is passed on to Use of Disposable Income Account (1.6). For the other sectors the disposable income is generally equal to saving. This is then passed on to the Change in Net Worth due to Saving and Capital Transfers Account (1.8).

1.6 Use of Disposable Income Account

This account shows the element of disposable income that is spent on final consumption and also the element that is saved. As mentioned above, final consumption only exists for Households, NPISH and General Government. The net equity of Households in pension funds is seen as a financial asset that belongs to Households. Changes in these reserves need to be included in the saving of Households. However, contributions to pension schemes and pension benefits have already been recorded on the Secondary Distribution of Income Account (1.5) as social contributions and social benefits. Therefore, an adjustment is needed in the saving of Households to include the change in pension funds reserves on which they have a definite claim. This adjustment is called Adjustment for the Change in Pension Entitlements (D.8). There is no need for a similar adjustment concerning life insurance because life insurance premiums and benefits are not recorded as current transactions. The balancing item for this account is Gross Saving (B.8g).

1.7 External Account

This account records the summarised transactions of the Rest of World Sector (S.2), including on the uses side exports of goods and services, primary incomes and current transfers receivable. The resources side of this account includes imports of goods and services together with primary incomes and transfers payable. The balancing item is Current External Balance (B.12), which records the balance on current accounts with the Rest of World.

Capital Accounts

1.8 Change in Net Worth due to Saving and Capital Transfers

On this account the capital transfers are recorded and combined with gross saving and the current external balance. The resulting balancing item is Changes in Net Worth due to Saving and Capital Transfers (B.10.1).

1.9 Acquisition of Non-Financial Assets Account

On this account, Gross Fixed Capital Formation (P.51), Changes in Inventories (P.52) and Acquisitions less Disposals of Valuables and Non-Produced Non-Financial Assets (N.P.) are recorded among the uses. The decline in the value of fixed capital goods caused by consumption of fixed capital goods is recorded among the resources (P.51c). The balancing item is B.9, Net Lending (shown as a positive number) or Borrowing (shown as a negative). It shows the amount a sector can invest, or has to borrow, as a result of its current and capital transactions.

Seasonal Adjustment

Seasonal adjustment is conducted using the direct seasonal adjustment approach. Under this approach, each individual time series is independently adjusted, i.e. aggregate series are adjusted without reference to the component series.

As part of the seasonal adjustment process, ARIMA models are identified for each series based on unadjusted data spanning Q1 1999 to the first quarter of this year. These models are then applied to the entire series in the next three quarters. Seasonal factors and the parameters of the ARIMA models are updated each quarter.

The adjustments are completed by applying the X-13-ARIMA model, developed by the U.S. Census Bureau to the unadjusted data. This methodology estimates seasonal factors while also taking into consideration factors that impact on the quality of the seasonal adjustment such as, for example:

  • calendar effects, e.g. the timing of Easter
  • outliers, temporary changes and level shifts in the series

For additional information on the use of X-13-ARIMA, see https://www.census.gov/srd/www/x13as/.

Derived Seasonally Adjusted Household Saving Ratio

Seasonally adjusted estimates of Household Saving are compiled using the indirect seasonal adjustment approach. Under this approach the two main aggregates, Household Disposable Income (B.6g + D.8) and Final Consumption Expenditure of Households (P.3), are independently adjusted. The derived saving is the difference between the two adjusted series of Household Disposable Income and Final Expenditure of Households. This method for estimating the seasonally adjusted value for a small net residual of two large aggregates, such as Household Saving, is considered to be a more appropriate estimation procedure.

The use of these saving either for financial investment or debt reduction is not recorded in these accounts but is recorded in the financial account (see Quarterly Financial Accounts published by the Central Bank of Ireland and Institutional Sector Accounts Non-Financial and Financial 2017 for annual integrated financial and non financial accounts).

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