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Brexit - Ireland and the UK in numbers

Business

2.1 Foreign direct investment flows abroad and direct investment flows into Ireland1
         €million
 2014 2015
 Equity CapitalReinvested EarningsOther CapitalTotal Equity CapitalReinvested EarningsOther CapitalTotal
Direct investment flows abroad:         
UK-9,5491,0717,888-590 19665-205478
Total-2,07614,19919,11031,231 113,32110,86325,754149,937
           
UK as a % of total460.07.541.3-1.9 0.06.1-0.80.3
          
Direct investment flows into Ireland:         
UK6,5661,235-7,044757 15,9011,082-21,122-4,138
Total18,57024,449-14,81828,200 116,84538,78114,181169,809
          
UK as a % of total35.45.147.52.7 13.62.8-148.9-2.4
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.

 

  • 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.
2.2 Foreign direct investment abroad and direct investment in Ireland end year positions
       €million
 2014 2015
 Equity Capital & Reinvested EarningsOther CapitalTotal Equity Capital & Reinvested EarningsOther CapitalTotal
Direct investment abroad:1       
UK63,23614,76377,999 73,52515,52389,049
Total437,27372,905510,178 729,48485,718815,202
        
UK as a % of total14.520.215.3 10.118.110.9
        
Direct investment in Ireland 2       
UK56,327-13,26543,062 69,667-32,70836,959
Total372,257-29,557342,700 546,067249,577795,644
        
UK as a % of total15.144.912.6 12.8-13.14.6
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.

 

  • 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 2014Total 2014UK 2015Total 2015
Direct investment abroad7799951017889049815202
Direct investment into Ireland4306234270036959795644
2.3 Resident holdings of Foreign Portfolio Securities by investment
            
  €million   €million   €million 
Foreign Portfolio Securities2012 2013 2014
UK TotalUK as % UKTotalUK as % UKTotalUK as %
  of total   of total   of total
Equity76,377500,57515.3 92,756591,11615.7 100,937743,72313.6
Bonds and notes131,359786,40916.7 112,789746,71415.1 177,236792,66122.4
Money market instruments68,471299,87222.8 53,487287,55418.6 64,615398,73416.2
Total276,2071,586,85617.4 259,0321,625,38415.9 342,7881,935,11817.7
Source: Balance of Payments, CSO

 

  • 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.
UKNon UK
Equity100937642786
Bonds and notes177236615425
Money market instruments64615334119
Total3427881592330
2.4 Resident holdings of Foreign Portfolio Securities by sector
            
  €million   €million   €million 
Sector2012 2013 2014
UK TotalUK as % UKTotalUK as % UKTotalUK as %
  of total   of total   of total
Monetary authorities016,2490.0 018,7780.0 018,8200.0
Deposit taking corporations21,540130,09216.6 17,558109,36816.1 13,263110,14012.0
General Government*4,690* 5374,98710.8 2024,1144.9
Other sectors1*1,435,825* 240,9371,492,25116.1 329,3231,802,04418.3
Total276,2071,586,85617.4 259,0321,625,38415.9 342,7881,935,11817.7
Source: Balance of Payments, CSO
*Data suppressed for confidentiality reasons
1Includes money market instrument funds (see Appendix)

 

  • 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.

 

2.5 Number of persons engaged in Irish owned foreign affiliates by country of activity
      
 20102011201220132014
United Kingdom88,78782,85378,89484,13186,180
All other countries239,226215,651212,608221,439221,819
Total328,013298,504291,502305,570307,999
      
UK as % of total27.127.827.127.528.0
Source: Outward Foreign Affiliates Statistics, CSO

 

  • 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 KingdomAll other countries
201088787239226
201182853215651
201278894212608
201384131221439
201486180221819
2.6 Turnover of Irish owned foreign affiliates by country of activity
      
     €million
 20102011201220132014
United Kingdom27,35731,28533,89037,62037,609
All other countries67,08862,87360,81364,42661,731
Total94,44594,15894,703102,04699,340
      
UK as % of total29.033.235.836.937.9
Source: Outward Foreign Affiliates Statistics, CSO

 

  • 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 KingdomAll other countries
20102735767088
20113128562873
20123389060813
20133762064426
20143760961731
2.7 Number of persons engaged in Irish-owned foreign affiliates by sector
      
     persons
 20102011201220132014
Irish owned affiliates in the UK:     
Manufacturing25,42825,03925,43222,22821,700
Distribution28,69227,90028,06034,17638,203
Other Activities34,66729,91425,40227,72726,277
Total88,78782,85378,89484,13186,180
      
Irish owned affiliates in all countries other than UK:     
Manufacturing108,86397,23098,641102,310109,272
Distribution80,70678,50379,29188,33293,924
Other Activities49,65739,91834,67630,79718,623
Total239,226215,651212,608221,439221,819
       
Total Irish owned affiliates:     
Manufacturing134,291122,269124,073124,538130,972
Distribution109,398106,403107,351122,508132,127
Other Activities84,32469,83260,07858,52444,900
Total328,013298,504291,502305,570307,999
      
UK as a % of total:     
Manufacturing18.920.520.517.816.6
Distribution26.226.226.127.928.9
Other Activities41.142.842.347.458.5
Total27.127.827.127.528.0
Source: Outward foreign affiliates, CSO

 

  • 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.
2.8 Turnover of Irish owned foreign affiliates by sector
      
     €million
 20102011201220132014
Irish owned affiliates in the UK:     
Manufacturing5,3845,6996,3845,8825,551
Distribution7,4547,5157,9429,14510,074
Other Activities14,51918,07119,56422,59321,984
Total27,35731,28533,89037,62037,609
      
Irish owned affiliates in all countries other than UK:     
Manufacturing24,64824,29825,32926,18424,162
Distribution23,16621,14022,08223,55624,790
Other Activities19,27417,43513,40214,68612,779
Total67,08862,87360,81364,42661,731
       
Total Irish owned affiliates:     
Manufacturing30,03229,99731,71332,06629,713
Distribution30,62028,65530,02432,70134,864
Other Activities33,79335,50632,96637,27934,763
Total94,44594,15894,703102,04699,340
      
UK as a % of total:     
Manufacturing17.919.020.118.318.7
Distribution24.326.226.528.028.9
Other Activities43.050.959.360.663.2
Total29.033.235.836.937.9
Source: Outward foreign affiliates, CSO
      

 

  • 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%).

 

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