Ireland’s Balance of Payments showed a current account surplus of €13.8bn in Quarter 1 (Q1) 2023.
Merchandise exports were €88.8bn in Q1 2023, an increase of €10.3bn compared with Q1 2022. Merchandise imports were €32.7bn in Q1 2023, a rise of €2bn compared with the same period in 2022.
Service exports at €83.3bn, grew by €5.3bn compared with Q1 2022. Service imports at €84.8bn were up €12.3bn over the same period in 2022.
The trade balance at €54.6bn, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, increased by €1.4bn in Q1 2023 over the same period in 2022.
The overall income balance for Q1 2023 was -€40.8bn a decrease of €4.6bn compared with the same period in 2022.
Direct investment into Ireland increased by €1.9bn in Q1 2023 while direct investment abroad increased by €9.8bn in the quarter.
The stock of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) assets held in Ireland by foreign investors fell by €59.6bn in Q1 2023 to €1,261.2bn. FDI assets held abroad by Irish investors grew by €27.5bn in the quarter to €1,137.9bn.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (2 June 2023) released the International Accounts results for Quarter 1, 2023.
Commenting on the release, Jennifer Banim, Assistance Director General with responsibility for Economic Statistics said:
“In the International Accounts, the Current Account of the Balance of Payments recorded a surplus of €13.8 billion in flows with the rest of the world in Q1 2023, a dis-improvement of €3.2 billion compared with the surplus of €17.0 billion recorded in Q1 2022. The Merchandise balance improved by €8.3 billion in Q1 2023 compared to the same quarter in 2022 while the Services balance disimproved by €6.9 billion. Net outflows of multinational profits were €35.2 billion in the quarter, an increase of €3.4 billion on the net outflows recorded in Q1 2022.
Today’s International Accounts publication includes a table of Current Account transactions with the UK. The results show a surplus of €2.2 billion for Trade in Goods & Services with the UK in Q1 2023, a dis-improvement of €0.5 billion on the Q1 2022 trade balance. The trade surplus was offset by a deficit of €6.5 billion for net income flows, giving an overall Current Account deficit with the UK of €4.2 billion in the quarter.”
For more commentary see Press Statement.