Business Brexit - Ireland and the UK in numbers

Foreign direct investment flows abroad and direct investment flows into Ireland

2.1 Foreign direct investment flows abroad and direct investment flows into Ireland¹
								€million
	2014				2015
	Equity Capital	Reinvested Earnings	Other Capital	Total	Equity Capital	Reinvested Earnings	Other Capital	Total
Direct investment flows abroad:
UK	-9,549	1,071	7,888	-590	19	665	-205	478
Total	-2,076	14,199	19,110	31,231	113,321	10,863	25,754	149,937

UK as a % of total	460.0	7.5	41.3	-1.9	0.0	6.1	-0.8	0.3

Direct investment flows into Ireland:
UK	6,566	1,235	-7,044	757	15,901	1,082	-21,122	-4,138
Total	18,570	24,449	-14,818	28,200	116,845	38,781	14,181	169,809

UK as a % of total	35.4	5.1	47.5	2.7	13.6	2.8	-148.9	-2.4
Source: Balance of Payments, CSO
¹ Data are provided according to arithmetic sign conventions, e.g. minus signs are used in cases where there is withdrawal of investment.

Open in Excel: Brexit 2016, Ireland and the UK in numbers, Table 2.1 (XLS 12KB)

Direct investment flows abroad from Ireland were €33bn in 2014, an increase from €22bn in 2013.
There was a withdrawal of investment of €0.6bn from investments in the UK in 2014,
This compares with a flow of direct investment into the UK of €8bn in 2013, which amounted to 36.3% of the direct investment flows abroad in 2013.
Flows of direct investment into Ireland were €23bn in 2014, down from €34bn in 2013.
The UK accounted for just 1.8% of the direct investment flows into Ireland in 2014.

Foreign direct investment abroad and direct investment in Ireland end year positions

2.2 Foreign direct investment abroad and direct investment in Ireland end year positions
						€million
	2014			2015
	Equity Capital & Reinvested Earnings	Other Capital	Total	Equity Capital & Reinvested Earnings	Other Capital	Total
Direct investment abroad:¹
UK	63,236	14,763	77,999	73,525	15,523	89,049
Total	437,273	72,905	510,178	729,484	85,718	815,202

UK as a % of total	14.5	20.2	15.3	10.1	18.1	10.9

Direct investment in Ireland²
UK	56,327	-13,265	43,062	69,667	-32,708	36,959
Total	372,257	-29,557	342,700	546,067	249,577	795,644

UK as a % of total	15.1	44.9	12.6	12.8	-13.1	4.6
Source: Balance of Payments, CSO
¹ For end year positions 'abroad' an entry without sign indicates a net asset position, while a minus sign indicates a net liability position.
² For end year positions 'in Ireland' an entry without sign indicates a net liability position, while a minus sign indicates a net asset position.

Open in Excel: Brexit 2016, Ireland and the UK in numbers, Table 2.2 (XLS 12KB)

Irish stocks of direct investment abroad increased from €391bn at the end of 2013 to €523bn at the end of 2014. The UK accounted for 14.9% of total direct investment abroad in 2014, down from 17.0% in 2013.
The stock of total foreign direct investment into Ireland also increased between the end of 2013 and the end of 2014, from €285bn to €312bn.
The UK stock of direct investment into Ireland was 13.9% of the total in 2014, down slightly from 14.2% in 2013.

	UK 2014	Total 2014	UK 2015	Total 2015
Direct investment abroad	77999	510178	89049	815202
Direct investment into Ireland	43062	342700	36959	795644

Resident holdings of Foreign Portfolio Securities by investment

2.3 Resident holdings of Foreign Portfolio Securities by investment

		€million			€million			€million
Foreign Portfolio Securities	2012			2013			2014
	UK	Total	UK as %	UK	Total	UK as %	UK	Total	UK as %
			of total			of total			of total
Equity	76,377	500,575	15.3	92,756	591,116	15.7	100,937	743,723	13.6
Bonds and notes	131,359	786,409	16.7	112,789	746,714	15.1	177,236	792,661	22.4
Money market instruments	68,471	299,872	22.8	53,487	287,554	18.6	64,615	398,734	16.2
Total	276,207	1,586,856	17.4	259,032	1,625,384	15.9	342,788	1,935,118	17.7
Source: Balance of Payments, CSO

Open in Excel: Brexit 2016, Ireland and the UK in numbers, Table 2.3 (XLS 12KB)

The total value of Irish residents' holdings of foreign securities increased from €1,587bn in 2012 to €1,935bn at the end of December 2014, a 21.9% increase over two years. UK-issued instruments accounted for €276bn (17.4%) of the total holdings at the end of 2012. The value of UK-issued instruments dropped in 2013 to €259bn (15.9% of total holdings) and increased to €343bn (17.7% of total holdings) at the end of December 2014.
The largest component of Irish residents' holdings of UK-issued instruments at the end of 2014 was in bonds and notes at €177bn while €101bn was held in equity and €65bn in money market instruments.

	UK	Non UK
Equity	100937	642786
Bonds and notes	177236	615425
Money market instruments	64615	334119
Total	342788	1592330

Resident holdings of Foreign Portfolio Securities by sector

2.4 Resident holdings of Foreign Portfolio Securities by sector

		€million			€million			€million
Sector	2012			2013			2014
	UK	Total	UK as %	UK	Total	UK as %	UK	Total	UK as %
			of total			of total			of total
Monetary authorities	0	16,249	0.0	0	18,778	0.0	0	18,820	0.0
Deposit taking corporations	21,540	130,092	16.6	17,558	109,368	16.1	13,263	110,140	12.0
General Government	*	4,690	*	537	4,987	10.8	202	4,114	4.9
Other sectors¹	*	1,435,825	*	240,937	1,492,251	16.1	329,323	1,802,044	18.3
Total	276,207	1,586,856	17.4	259,032	1,625,384	15.9	342,788	1,935,118	17.7
Source: Balance of Payments, CSO
*Data suppressed for confidentiality reasons
¹Includes money market instrument funds (see Appendix)

Open in Excel: Brexit 2016, Ireland and the UK in numbers, Table 2.4 (XLS 12KB)

The value of Irish residents' holdings of foreign securities rose from €1,587bn at the end of December 2012 to €1,625bn at the end of 2013 and increased again to €1,935bn at the end of 2014.
More than 90% of the activity in UK issued instruments in 2013 and 2014 was in the Other sector category.
Of the €343bn in UK-issued instruments at the end of 2014, €13bn was in deposit taking corporations while €329bn was in "other sectors" which covers all other corporations and (implicitly) households. See the Appendix for more details.

Number of persons engaged in Irish owned foreign affiliates by country of activity

2.5 Number of persons engaged in Irish owned foreign affiliates by country of activity

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
United Kingdom	88,787	82,853	78,894	84,131	86,180
All other countries	239,226	215,651	212,608	221,439	221,819
Total	328,013	298,504	291,502	305,570	307,999

UK as % of total	27.1	27.8	27.1	27.5	28.0
Source: Outward Foreign Affiliates Statistics, CSO

Open in Excel: Brexit 2016, Ireland and the UK in numbers, Table 2.5 (XLS 11KB)

The number of persons engaged in Irish owned affiliates fell from 328,013 in 2010 to 291,502 in 2012 before increasing to stand at 307,999 in 2014.
The number of persons engaged in Irish owned affiliates located in the UK dropped from 88,787 in 2010 to 78,894 in 2012 before increasing to 86,180 in 2014.
The proportion of persons engaged in Irish owned affiliates located in the UK over this time remained broadly static, at around 27% to 28%.

	United Kingdom	All other countries
2010	88787	239226
2011	82853	215651
2012	78894	212608
2013	84131	221439
2014	86180	221819

Turnover of Irish owned foreign affiliates by country of activity

2.6 Turnover of Irish owned foreign affiliates by country of activity

					€million
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
United Kingdom	27,357	31,285	33,890	37,620	37,609
All other countries	67,088	62,873	60,813	64,426	61,731
Total	94,445	94,158	94,703	102,046	99,340

UK as % of total	29.0	33.2	35.8	36.9	37.9
Source: Outward Foreign Affiliates Statistics, CSO

Open in Excel: Brexit 2016, Ireland and the UK in numbers, Table 2.6 (XLS 11KB)

The turnover of Irish owned affiliates was about €94bn between 2010 and 2012 and then increased to €102bn in 2013 before dropping to €99.3bn in 2014.
The trend was different in the affiliates located in the United Kingdom. Turnover in these affiliates increased from €27.4bn in 2010 to €37.6bn in 2013 and then stayed at €37.6bn in 2014.
The turnover of Irish owned affiliates in the United Kingdom accounted for €37.6bn (or 38%) of the total turnover of Irish owned foreign affiliates in 2014.

	United Kingdom	All other countries
2010	27357	67088
2011	31285	62873
2012	33890	60813
2013	37620	64426
2014	37609	61731

Number of persons engaged in Irish-owned foreign affiliates by sector

2.7 Number of persons engaged in Irish-owned foreign affiliates by sector

					persons
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Irish owned affiliates in the UK:
Manufacturing	25,428	25,039	25,432	22,228	21,700
Distribution	28,692	27,900	28,060	34,176	38,203
Other Activities	34,667	29,914	25,402	27,727	26,277
Total	88,787	82,853	78,894	84,131	86,180

Irish owned affiliates in all countries other than UK:
Manufacturing	108,863	97,230	98,641	102,310	109,272
Distribution	80,706	78,503	79,291	88,332	93,924
Other Activities	49,657	39,918	34,676	30,797	18,623
Total	239,226	215,651	212,608	221,439	221,819

Total Irish owned affiliates:
Manufacturing	134,291	122,269	124,073	124,538	130,972
Distribution	109,398	106,403	107,351	122,508	132,127
Other Activities	84,324	69,832	60,078	58,524	44,900
Total	328,013	298,504	291,502	305,570	307,999

UK as a % of total:
Manufacturing	18.9	20.5	20.5	17.8	16.6
Distribution	26.2	26.2	26.1	27.9	28.9
Other Activities	41.1	42.8	42.3	47.4	58.5
Total	27.1	27.8	27.1	27.5	28.0
Source: Outward foreign affiliates, CSO

Open in Excel: Brexit 2016, Ireland and the UK in numbers, Table 2.7 (XLS 12KB)

The number of persons engaged in Irish owned foreign affiliates dropped from 328,013 in 2010 to 291,502 in 2012 before increasing to 307,999 by 2014.
Of the 307,999 persons engaged in Irish owned foreign affiliates in 2014, 43% were engaged in Distribution and the same proportion were engaged in Manufacturing.
In 2010 there were 88,787 persons engaged in Irish owned foreign affiliates in the UK. This number dropped to 78,894 in 2012 before increasing to 86,180 in 2014.
Of the 86,180 persons engaged in the UK in 2014, 44% worked in Distribution, 31% worked in Other Activities while 25% worked in Manufacturing.
There were 132,127 persons engaged in Distribution in Irish owned foreign affiliates in 2014 and of these 29% were based in the UK while of the 130,972 persons engaged in Manufacturing one in six was based in the UK.

Turnover of Irish owned foreign affiliates by sector

2.8 Turnover of Irish owned foreign affiliates by sector

					€million
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Irish owned affiliates in the UK:
Manufacturing	5,384	5,699	6,384	5,882	5,551
Distribution	7,454	7,515	7,942	9,145	10,074
Other Activities	14,519	18,071	19,564	22,593	21,984
Total	27,357	31,285	33,890	37,620	37,609

Irish owned affiliates in all countries other than UK:
Manufacturing	24,648	24,298	25,329	26,184	24,162
Distribution	23,166	21,140	22,082	23,556	24,790
Other Activities	19,274	17,435	13,402	14,686	12,779
Total	67,088	62,873	60,813	64,426	61,731

Total Irish owned affiliates:
Manufacturing	30,032	29,997	31,713	32,066	29,713
Distribution	30,620	28,655	30,024	32,701	34,864
Other Activities	33,793	35,506	32,966	37,279	34,763
Total	94,445	94,158	94,703	102,046	99,340

UK as a % of total:
Manufacturing	17.9	19.0	20.1	18.3	18.7
Distribution	24.3	26.2	26.5	28.0	28.9
Other Activities	43.0	50.9	59.3	60.6	63.2
Total	29.0	33.2	35.8	36.9	37.9
Source: Outward foreign affiliates, CSO

Open in Excel: Brexit 2016, Ireland and the UK in numbers, Table 2.8 (XLS 12KB)

Turnover in Irish owned foreign affiliates was stable at about €94bn in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and then increased to €102 bn in 2013 before falling slightly to €99.3bn in 2014.
Just over a third (35%) of the turnover in Irish owned foreign affiliates in 2014 was in the Distribution sector while the Other Activities sector also accounted for just over a third (35%). The Manufacturing sector contributed 30% of total turnover in foreign affiliates.
The turnover of Irish owned foreign affiliates in the UK increased from €27bn in 2010 to €37.6bn by 2014. Of the €37.6bn turnover in the UK in 2014, just under 60% was in the Other Activities sector while 27% was in Distribution and 15% in Manufacturing.
About 29% of the total turnover of €34.9bn in Distribution by Irish owned foreign affiliates was in the UK in 2014 while close to two-thirds of the total turnover of €34.8bn in Other Activities was located in the UK.
Of the total turnover of €29.7bn in Manufacturing by Irish owned foreign affiliates in 2014, the UK accounted for just under a fifth (19%).

Go to next chapter >>> Trade

Brexit - Ireland and the UK in numbers

Business

Foreign direct investment flows abroad and direct investment flows into Ireland

Foreign direct investment abroad and direct investment in Ireland end year positions

Resident holdings of Foreign Portfolio Securities by investment

Resident holdings of Foreign Portfolio Securities by sector

Number of persons engaged in Irish owned foreign affiliates by country of activity

Turnover of Irish owned foreign affiliates by country of activity

Number of persons engaged in Irish-owned foreign affiliates by sector

Turnover of Irish owned foreign affiliates by sector

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