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Balance of International Payments

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Current account balance of €17bn 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 202142,057-25,00317,05416.8
Q1 202247,784-30,74217,04314.6
 
Q1-Q4 2020142,213-167,725-25,510-6.8
Q1-Q4 2021167,308-106,64960,65914.2

The Balance of Payments current account, a measure of Ireland’s economic flows with the rest of the world, showed a surplus of €17bn in the first quarter of 2022. Increased merchandise exports and computer services exports have contributed to the current account surplus.

Current Account
Q4 2019-63.2714340305583
Q1 2020-51.0529116089118
Q2 202013.2746204617677
Q3 20209.87812279310573
Q4 20200.808201291059934
Q1 202116.8480902885159
Q2 202116.1198977086449
Q3 202119.7322326507056
Q4 20214.21303948476478
Q1 202214.5664035700284
MerchandiseServicesPrimary IncomeSecondary IncomeBalance on Current Account
Q4 201929.188-68.463-18.838-0.66-58.773
Q1 202036.139-59.876-22.71-1.05-47.496
Q2 202034.2660.39-22.443-0.97411.239
Q3 202037.4652.502-29.253-0.7279.987
Q4 202034.343-14.731-17.819-1.0340.76
Q1 202142.0575.491-29.221-1.27317.054
Q2 202140.1375.203-27.987-0.99416.359
Q3 202144.8235.146-26.622-0.6822.666
Q4 202140.291-15.263-19.019-1.434.58
Q1 202247.7845.442-34.986-1.19817.043

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 €10,832m compared with the first quarter of 2021. Merchandise imports were €30,688m in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of €5,105m over the same period in 2021.
  • Service exports at €77,956m increased by €14,571m compared to the first quarter of 2021, mainly due to higher Computer services exports and business services exports (which increased by €8,354m and €4,315m respectively).
  • Service imports at €72,514m were up €14,619m over the same period in 2021, mainly due to higher Royalties licences/imports (which increased by €6,328m) and higher Business services imports.
  • Ireland’s trade balance at €53,227m, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, increased by €5,679m in the first quarter of 2022 over the same period in 2021.
  • Investment income earned abroad at €31,182m, increased by €1,191m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €66,337m increased by €6,961m. The overall income balance for the quarter at -€36,184m decreased by €5,690m 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 2020-53.14-86.10581.10.139-58.007
Q2 2020-51.18349.41312.891-0.01411.107
Q3 2020-12.829-2.91716.6830.7611.697
Q4 20204.17216.581-10.780.39610.371
Q1 202117.0998.338-14.6510.17310.959
Q2 20214.815-4.66722.9820.07223.203
Q3 20217.198-10.62413.614.08114.264
Q4 202124.1340.872-13.210.65412.45
Q1 20229.8-36.09137.62-0.12911.2

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

  • Direct investment in Ireland decreased marginally by €465m in the first quarter of 2022. This was due to increased other capital of €14,774m and increased reinvested earnings of €11,065m which were offset by decreased equity investment of €26,304m.
  • Direct investment abroad increased by €9,335m in the quarter, mainly due to equity investment and reinvested earnings abroad which increased by €3,668m and €7,044m respectively.
  • Portfolio investment in foreign assets decreased by €51,325m in the quarter due to a decrease in investment in foreign debt instruments of €62,274m which was offset by increased investment in foreign equity of €10,948m. Portfolio investment in Ireland decreased by €15,234m, due to a decrease in investment in foreign equity of €13,521m and foreign debt instruments of €1,713m.
  • Other investment assets and liabilities increased by €83,939m and €46,319m 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