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Balance of International Payments

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Current account deficit of €14.6bn 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 201930,224-21,0719,15310.8
Q1 202034,409-48,965-14,557-16.0
     
Q1-Q4 2018109,132-89,51419,6176.0
Q1-Q4 2019119,125-159,529-40,404-11.3

The Balance of Payments current account, a measure of Ireland’s economic flows with the rest of the world, showed a deficit of €14.6bn 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 201715.7108563131582
Q1 201814.0150354374873
Q2 201813.8390941460721
Q3 201812.9536795807672
Q4 2018-15.8463385447228
Q1 201910.7772509840293
Q2 2019-38.3864861688368
Q3 201912.452669962882
Q4 2019-30.7250927111529
Q1 2020-16.0401559001273
MerchandiseServicesPrimary IncomeSecondary IncomeBalance on Current Account
Q4 201730.723-1.571-15.63-0.69412.827
Q1 201828.4120.608-16.866-0.99111.163
Q2 201828.044-0.017-16.155-1.07610.795
Q3 201827.2581.279-16.675-0.84611.016
Q4 201825.418-18.214-19.753-0.808-13.357
Q1 201930.224-0.079-19.668-1.3249.153
Q2 201928.1-38.931-21.111-0.66-32.602
Q3 201931.6040.996-20.096-0.89511.609
Q4 201929.197-37.317-19.751-0.693-28.564
Q1 202034.409-28.156-19.728-1.081-14.557

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 €2,953m compared with the first quarter of 2019. Merchandise imports were €25,043m in the first quarter of 2020, a decrease of €1,232m over the same period in 2019.
  • Service exports at €52,712m increased by €4,432m compared to the first quarter of 2019, mainly due to higher computer services exports (which increased by €4,356m).
  • Service imports at €80,868m were up €32,509m over the same period in 2019 due to the increased R&D related intellectual property imports.
  • Ireland’s trade balance at €6,252m, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, decreased by €23,893m in the first quarter of 2020 over the same period in 2019.
  • Investment income earned abroad at €25,945m, increased by €285m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €45,910m increased by €356m. The overall income balance for the quarter at -€20,809m increased by €183m 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 201816.7419.365-33.684-0.0222.399
Q2 201811.434-16.04119.7840.00515.181
Q3 201815.2068.493-15.7380.2098.17
Q4 2018-21.60525.783-62.6690.578-57.913
Q1 20196.12110.265-5.0960.00211.291
Q2 2019-56.32-9.9369.380.121-56.754
Q3 2019-5.398-6.61716.6850.1254.795
Q4 2019-31.7135.461-29.5740.181-25.641
Q1 2020-14.702-83.13773.5620.138-24.138

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

  • Direct investment in Ireland increased by €4,076m in the first quarter of 2020. This was due to equity investment of €7,516m and reinvested earnings of €9,844m which were offset by a decrease in other capital of €13,284m. Direct investment abroad decreased by €10,626m in the quarter, mainly due to decreased other capital investment abroad of €26,099m.
  • Portfolio investment in foreign assets decreased by €113,863m in the quarter. Investment in foreign equity decreased by €11,680m while investment in foreign debt instruments decreased by €102,182m. Portfolio investment in Ireland decreased by €30,726m, mainly due to decreased purchase of Irish equity of €39,726m.
  • Other investment assets and liabilities increased by €178,561m and €104,998m 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


Next Chapter >> Modified Current Account 2019