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Balance of International Payments

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Current account balance of €17.4bn in Quarter 1 2022

Table 1.1 Balance of International Payments€ million
 Merchandise BalanceServices and Income BalanceCurrent Account BalanceCurrent Account Balance as % of GDP
Q1 202143,658-24,61719,04018.9
Q1 202247,784-30,42517,36014.9
 
Q1-Q4 2020144,952-154,846-9,892-2.7
Q1-Q4 2021172,943-114,14458,79813.9

The Balance of Payments current account, a measure of Ireland’s economic flows with the rest of the world, showed a surplus of €17.4bn in the first quarter of 2022. Increased merchandise exports and computer services exports have contributed to the current account surplus.

Current Account
Q4 2019-63.5161880916754
Q1 2020-49.2835487394886
Q2 202011.6541962287259
Q3 202015.1416633507514
Q4 202011.5649766415266
Q1 202118.9417611114286
Q2 202114.8989309568967
Q3 202120.3511305440226
Q4 20211.41953658723128
Q1 202214.8866972704544
MerchandiseServicesPrimary IncomeSecondary IncomeBalance on Current Account
Q4 201929.188-68.463-18.838-0.66-58.773
Q1 202037.656-61.58-20.951-1.05-45.924
Q2 202034.277-1.664-21.784-0.9749.855
Q3 202037.8956.842-28.722-0.72815.287
Q4 202035.124-5.498-17.703-1.03410.89
Q1 202143.6584.953-28.305-1.26519.04
Q2 202142.282.945-29.252-0.9814.993
Q3 202145.7284.805-26.597-0.67723.259
Q4 202141.277-15.831-22.513-1.4271.506
Q1 202247.7845.544-34.867-1.10217.36

Other points of note in the Quarter 1 2022 results are:

Current account (see Table 1.3)

  • Merchandise exports were €78,473m in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of €9,652m compared with the first quarter of 2021. Merchandise imports were €30,688m in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of €5,524m over the same period in 2021.
  • Service exports at €77,415m increased by €15,203m compared to the first quarter of 2021, mainly due to higher Computer services exports (which increased by €9,071m) and higher Business services exports.
  • Service imports at €71,871m were up €14,612m over the same period in 2021, mainly due to higher Royalty imports and higher Business services imports.
  • Ireland’s trade balance at €53,329m, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, increased by €4,718m in the first quarter of 2022 over the same period in 2021.
  • Investment income earned abroad at €31,182m, increased by €2,501m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €66,219m increased by €9,070m. The overall income balance for the quarter at -€35,969m decreased by €6,399m compared with the same period in 2021.
Direct InvestmentPortfolio InvestmentOther InvestmentReserve AssetsBalance on Financial Account
Q4 2019-59.46731.046-30.4960.169-58.748
Q1 2020-52.356-85.89479.8370.139-58.274
Q2 2020-58.41448.25110.867-0.0140.689
Q3 2020-6.5140.88316.0660.7611.196
Q4 20207.08516.074-11.9480.4111.621
Q1 202122.85512.427-23.2540.17312.201
Q2 20213.693-0.64117.670.07220.794
Q3 2021-11.444-2.05722.4024.08112.982
Q4 202124.023-0.022-15.6780.6548.977
Q1 20229.158-35.75238.308-0.12911.585

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

  • Direct investment in Ireland increased marginally by €47m in the first quarter of 2022. This was due to increased other capital of €15,183m and increased reinvested earnings of €10,909m which were offset by decreased equity investment of €26,045m. Direct investment abroad increased by €9,205m in the quarter, mainly due to equity investment and reinvested earnings abroad which increased by €3,648m and €6,934m respectively.
  • Portfolio investment in foreign assets decreased by €50,947m in the quarter due to a decreased in investment in foreign debt instruments of €62,188m which was offset by increased investment in foreign equity of €11,241m. Portfolio investment in Ireland decreased by €15,195m, mainly due to a decreased in investment in Irish equity of €13,520m and Irish debt was €1,675m.
  • Other investment assets and liabilities increased by €83,835m and €45,527m respectively in the first quarter of 2022.
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 Account activity classified by Institutional Sector

Table 1.6 Current and Capital Accounts showing geographical detail

Table 1.7 Financial Account showing geographical detail