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International Accounts Q1 2022

Accounts with the UK

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Current account with the UK shows a deficit of €0.4bn in Quarter 1 2022

	Merchandise	Services	Income	Current Account
Q4 2019	-1.056	3.918	-2.52	0.342
Q1 2020	-0.656	3.419	-3.162	-0.399
Q2 2020	-0.751	3.432	-2.462	0.219
Q3 2020	-0.566	4.149	-2.038	1.546
Q4 2020	-1.654	3.867	-1.724	0.49
Q1 2021	1.305	3.576	-1.483	3.398
Q2 2021	0.085	4.177	-2.993	1.267
Q3 2021	0.071	3.963	-3.235	0.8
Q4 2021	-0.964	5.267	-2.896	1.407
Q1 2022	-1.436	4.225	-3.156	-0.367

Current account with the UK (See Table 3.1)

Merchandise exports were €6,950m in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of €1,456m compared with the first quarter of 2021.
Merchandise imports were €8,386m in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of €4,197m compared with the first quarter of 2021.
Services exports at €9,940m increased by €1,018m compared to the first quarter of 2021, mainly due to computer and business exports.
Services imports at €5,715m were up €369m over that same period in 2021, these figures were affected by increased levels of business and transport costs.
Investment income earned in the UK at €5,640m, decreased by €155m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to the UK investors at €8,829m increased by €1,515m.
When these effects are combined, the trade balance with the UK has decreased by €2,093m and net income outflows have increased by €1,673m, compared with the first quarter of 2021. The result is a current account balance deficit of €367m in the first quarter of 2022, down from a current account balance of €3,398m in the first quarter of 2021.

The experimental table on foreign direct investment with the UK (See Table 3.2); shows that direct investment in Ireland from the UK has decreased by €1,150m in the first quarter of 2022 mainly due to decreases in equity and reinvested earnings. Direct investment abroad from Ireland to the UK has also decreased by €81m in the first quarter of 2022.

Table 3.1 Current Account with the UK

Table 3.1 Current Account with the UK												€ million
		2020	2021	2020				2021				2022
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1
Current Account
Merchandise¹	Exports	20,158	25,418	4,951	4,216	5,006	5,985	5,494	6,074	6,644	7,206	6,950
	Imports	23,785	24,921	5,607	4,967	5,572	7,639	4,189	5,989	6,573	8,170	8,386

of which: Merchanting (net export)	Exports	3,430	3,897	866	834	788	942	944	802	990	1,161	1,091

Services	Exports	35,119	39,695	8,433	8,026	8,732	9,928	8,922	9,751	9,930	11,092	9,940
	Imports	20,252	22,712	5,014	4,594	4,583	6,061	5,346	5,574	5,967	5,825	5,715
Transport	Exports	911	998	345	117	305	144	94	135	437	332	306
	Imports	648	713	164	130	151	203	133	176	176	228	240
Tourism and Travel²	Exports	286	103	179	29	34	44	12	16	36	39	46
	Imports	528	366	283	29	91	125	46	65	110	145	146
Insurance	Exports	1,944	2,591	545	487	447	465	553	635	557	846	649
	Imports	1,674	1,813	522	424	358	370	516	429	406	462	399
Financial services	Exports	6,992	7,921	1,472	1,651	1,806	2,063	1,910	2,037	2,002	1,972	1,928
	Imports	6,518	7,700	1,291	1,630	1,465	2,132	1,786	1,946	2,015	1,953	1,844
Royalties/Licences	Exports	396	538	85	78	89	144	93	102	127	216	140
	Imports	316	314	90	68	67	91	72	72	89	81	61
Computer services³	Exports	14,661	17,297	3,293	3,195	3,632	4,541	4,053	4,205	4,210	4,829	4,381
	Imports	240	346	46	59	67	68	53	81	111	101	75
Business services	Exports	4,633	4,768	1,254	1,053	1,046	1,280	1,046	1,178	1,226	1,318	1,266
	Imports	9,310	10,298	2,368	2,032	2,128	2,782	2,503	2,546	2,732	2,517	2,679
(of which: Operational leasing)	Exports	826	801	229	213	186	198	204	204	199	194	206
	Imports	145	144	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Other	Exports	5,296	5,479	1,258	1,416	1,374	1,248	1,161	1,442	1,335	1,541	1,225
	Imports	1,013	1,162	250	221	253	289	238	258	328	338	273

Merchandise and Services Total	Exports	55,278	65,112	13,384	12,242	13,738	15,914	14,416	15,824	16,574	18,298	16,890
	Imports	44,037	47,633	10,621	9,561	10,155	13,700	9,535	11,563	12,540	13,995	14,102

Trade balance	Net	11,242	17,480	2,763	2,681	3,584	2,214	4,881	4,261	4,035	4,303	2,788

Primary Income	Inflows	22,120	21,904	5,633	5,757	5,453	5,277	5,816	5,640	5,340	5,108	5,670
	Outflows	31,705	32,741	8,849	8,268	7,539	7,049	7,356	8,691	8,632	8,062	8,878
(of which : Investment Income)	Inflows	22,000	21,819	5,577	5,736	5,431	5,256	5,795	5,618	5,319	5,087	5,640
	Outflows	31,494	32,579	8,770	8,223	7,492	7,009	7,314	8,652	8,591	8,022	8,829
Direct investment income	Inflows	2,794	3,032	201	938	939	716	1,266	886	590	290	736
	Outflows	1,918	1,558	528	580	482	328	18	656	408	476	49
Portfolio investment income	Inflows	13,982	14,104	3,932	3,426	3,303	3,321	3,382	3,555	3,579	3,588	3,650
	Outflows	26,444	27,931	7,340	6,865	6,322	5,917	6,526	7,233	7,428	6,744	8,036
Other investment income	Inflows	5,225	4,682	1,444	1,373	1,189	1,219	1,146	1,177	1,150	1,209	1,253
	Outflows	3,132	3,089	903	778	687	764	770	763	755	801	745

Secondary Income	Inflows	1,688	1,684	503	377	418	390	306	350	505	523	431
	Outflows	1,489	1,454	449	328	370	342	249	292	448	465	379

Income balance	Net	-9,386	-10,607	-3,162	-2,462	-2,038	-1,724	-1,483	-2,993	-3,235	-2,896	-3,156

Current Account - Total	Inflows	79,087	88,701	19,520	18,376	19,610	21,581	20,538	21,814	22,420	23,929	22,991
	Outflows	77,229	81,828	19,919	18,156	18,063	21,091	17,140	20,547	21,619	22,522	23,359

Current Account Balance with UK	Net	1,856	6,872	-399	219	1,546	490	3,398	1,267	800	1,407	-367
¹Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.
²Under the credit item, passenger fare receipts of resident carriers from foreign visitors are excluded; such receipts are included under transport credits - see Background Notes.
³Covers exports and imports of software that were not incorporated as part of computer hardware or physical media but separately transmitted by electronic means. The value of sales and purchases of additional software licences is also included.

Open in Excel: International Accounts Q1 2022 Table 3.1 (XLS 21KB)

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Table 3.2 Foreign Direct Investment with the UK

Next chapter: Foreign Direct Investment

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Table 3.2 Foreign Direct investment with the UK¹												€ million
		2020	2021	2020				2021				2022
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1

Direct Investment	Abroad	-1,706	2,307	-1,642	-586	-767	1,289	1,565	762	-1,049	1,029	-81
	In Ireland	2,441	-139	1,023	1,534	-136	20	1,192	416	-832	-915	-1,150

Equity	Abroad	8,432	-69	*	-1,127	*	389	-186	167	-195	145	2,095
	In Ireland	-3,768	*	-10	-2,466	-1,099	-193	93	336	-284	*	-908
Reinvested Earnings	Abroad	2,086	1,992	38	785	807	456	1,123	769	-132	232	*
	In Ireland	22	*	-203	156	240	-171	-180	458	-399	*	-580
Other Capital	Abroad	-12,224	385	*	-244	*	444	628	-173	-722	652	*
	In Ireland	6,185	9,788	1,236	3,843	723	383	1,279	-378	-150	9,037	338
¹For Direct Investment, a 'directional' categorisation is used: 'Abroad' 'indicates direct investment by Irish investors in British companies; British direct investment into Ireland is indicated by the heading 'In Ireland'.

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International Accounts Q1 2022

Accounts with the UK

Accounts with the UK

Current account with the UK shows a deficit of €0.4bn in Quarter 1 2022

Current account with the UK (See Table 3.1)

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