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Balance of International Payments

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Current account deficit of €15.2bn in quarter 1 2020

Table 1.1 Balance of International Payments€ million
 Merchandise BalanceServices and Income BalanceCurrent Account BalanceCurrent Account Balance as % of GDP
Q1 201932,151-21,16210,99013.1
Q1 202034,409-49,617-15,208-17.1
     
Q1-Q4 2018112,960-78,66834,29210.6
Q1-Q4 2019122,768-155,598-32,829-9.5

The Balance of Payments current account, a measure of Ireland’s economic flows with the rest of the world, showed a deficit of €15.2bn in the first quarter of 2020. Large imports of intellectual property in the quarter, similar to Q2 and Q4 2019 have put the account in deficit.

Current Account
Q4 201715.9244761416053
Q1 201814.3462968690652
Q2 201813.7409318355348
Q3 201813.5071542511826
Q4 20181.17048719979101
Q1 201913.0905654005477
Q2 2019-32.1864599948528
Q3 201912.3080021466983
Q4 2019-31.5526521409239
Q1 2020-17.0540949811843
MerchandiseServicesPrimary IncomeSecondary IncomeBalance on Current Account
Q4 201730.723-1.571-15.63-0.69412.827
Q1 201829.06-0.151-16.681-0.90211.325
Q2 201828.803-0.986-16.269-0.98710.561
Q3 201828.220.527-16.561-0.75911.427
Q4 201826.877-4.961-20.22-0.7180.979
Q1 201932.151-1.224-18.682-1.25610.99
Q2 201928.157-33.412-20.708-0.575-26.538
Q3 201933.207-0.312-20.924-0.81111.16
Q4 201929.253-37.905-19.16-0.629-28.441
Q1 202034.409-29.29-19.227-1.1-15.208

Other points of note in the Quarter 1 2020 results are:

Current account (see Table 1.3)

  • Merchandise exports were €59,452m in the first quarter of 2020, an increase of €2,307m compared with the first quarter of 2019. Merchandise imports were €25,043m in the first quarter of 2020, an increase of €49m over the same period in 2019.
  • Service exports at €51,519m increased by €5,035m compared to the first quarter of 2019, mainly due to higher computer services exports (which increased by €4,627m).
  • Service imports at €80,808m were up €33,100m over the same period in 2019 due to a sizeable increase in R&D related intellectual property imports.
  • Ireland’s trade balance at €5,119m, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, decreased by €25,809m in the first quarter of 2020 over the same period in 2019.
  • Investment income earned abroad at €25,497m, increased by €3,130m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €44,963m increased by €3,674m, mainly due to increased profits in the manufacturing sector. The overall income balance for the quarter at -€20,327m decreased by €389m compared with the same period in 2019.
Direct InvestmentPortfolio InvestmentOther InvestmentReserve AssetsBalance on Financial Account
Q4 2017-31.389-1.05947.7060.10215.36
Q1 201811.8659.333-21.878-0.022-0.702
Q2 20189.67-27.04735.1660.00517.794
Q3 201810.784-2.4091.680.20910.265
Q4 2018-7.91814.452-47.9440.578-40.832
Q1 20192.627-3.74812.7950.00211.675
Q2 2019-49.036-14.05925.3150.121-37.659
Q3 2019-1.63934.764-35.4080.125-2.157
Q4 2019-5.66820.234-52.9790.181-38.231
Q1 2020-13.153-105.50196.2870.138-22.228

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

  • Direct investment in Ireland increased by €2,409m in the first quarter of 2020. This was due to equity investment of €6,078m and reinvested earnings of €9,711m which were offset be a decrease in other capital of €13,380m. Direct investment abroad decreased by €10,744m in the quarter, mainly due to decreased other capital investment abroad of €26,195m.
  • Portfolio investment in foreign assets decreased by €114,047m in the quarter. Investment in foreign equity decreased by €12,238m while investment in foreign debt instruments decreased by €101,809m. Portfolio investment in Ireland decreased by €8,546m, mainly due to decreased purchase of Irish equity of €17,525m.
  • Other investment assets and liabilities increased by €194,093m and €97,806m respectively in the first quarter of 2020 due to a significant increase in both IFSC enterprise assets and liabilities.
Table 1.2 Summary of Current, Capital and Financial Account Balances

Table 1.3 Current and Capital Accounts

Table 1.4 Financial Account

Table 1.5 Current, Capital and Financial Accounts showing IFSC and non-IFSC activity

Table 1.6 Current and Capital Accounts showing geographical detail

Table 1.7 Financial Account showing geographical detail


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