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Balance of International Payments

Balance of International Payments

Current account balance of €6.6bn in quarter 1 2025

Online ISSN: 2565-6384
CSO statistical release, , 11am
Table 1.1 Balance of International Payments€ million
 Merchandise BalanceServices and Income BalanceCurrent Account BalanceCurrent Account Balance as % of GDP
Q1 202438,814-23,92314,89111.9
Q1 202574,219-67,6336,5864.1
 
Q1-Q4 2023156,059-114,79541,2628.1
Q1-Q4 2024176,608-85,08291,52817.2

Balance of Payments Current Account

The Balance of Payments current account, a measure of Ireland’s economic flows with the rest of the world, showed a surplus of €6.5bn in the first quarter of 2025, a decrease of €8.3bn compared with the Q1 2024 surplus of €14.9bn due to increases in both the merchandise and services balance being offset by increased outflows of investment income.

Current Account
Q4 20225.85002694618576
Q1 20239.25099682331505
Q2 20239.03677156955853
Q3 202314.3336175845611
Q4 2023-0.410091629454137
Q1 202411.8850602788173
Q2 202428.2100323051422
Q3 202416.6227883073788
Q4 202412.6108145847666
Q1 20254.14232073110137
MerchandiseServicesPrimary IncomeSecondary IncomeBalance on Current Account
Q4 202254.578-4.849-40.621-1.2247.884
Q1 202353.7641.052-41.815-1.19611.805
Q2 202335.7857.184-30.46-1.16111.348
Q3 202336.84310.763-27.863-1.11318.629
Q4 202329.667-7.28-21.524-1.382-0.52
Q1 202438.8149.294-32.043-1.17414.891
Q2 202439.53324.485-27.382-1.15635.481
Q3 202443.8169.876-29.68-1.03422.978
Q4 202454.4454.8-39.849-1.21918.178
Q1 202574.219-0.41-66.175-1.0486.586

Current account (see Table 1.3)

  • Merchandise exports were €113,079m in the first quarter of 2025, an increase of €37,553m compared with the first quarter of 2024. Merchandise imports were €38,860m in first quarter of 2025, an increase of €2,149m over the same period in 2024.
  • Service exports at €115,260m increased by €10,207m compared to the first quarter of 2024, mainly due to higher computer services exports which increased by €9,691m.
  • Service imports at €115,670m were up €19,911m over the same period in 2024, mainly due to higher business services imports which increased by €16,128m and royalty imports which increased by €4,834m.
  • Ireland’s trade balance at €73,810m, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports increased by €25,702m in the first quarter of 2025 over the same period in 2024.
  • Investment income earned abroad at €71,438m, increased by €5,943m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €137,720m increased by €40,173m. The overall income balance for the quarter at -€67,223m decreased by €34,006m compared with the same period in 2024.
Direct InvestmentPortfolio InvestmentOther InvestmentReserve AssetsBalance on Financial Account
Q4 202211.956-27.12726.093-0.02210.9
Q1 202313.809-24.22216.1250.0115.723
Q2 20237.97987.024-91.396-0.0243.58
Q3 2023-20.57344.828-5.339-0.52918.387
Q4 202311.704-9.0796.4980.1079.229
Q1 202414.21133.405-36.741-0.08510.789
Q2 202435.701-4.4682.9540.00734.196
Q3 2024-3.67418.2258.552-0.30522.797
Q4 202412.7254.978-2.5830.24515.363
Q1 2025-2.4064.3814.4280.23816.638

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

  • Direct investment in Ireland increased by €15,911m in the first quarter of 2025. This was due to decreases in other capital investment of €38,911m and equity investment of €486m offset by increased reinvested earnings of €55,307m.
  • Direct investment abroad increased by €13,505m in the quarter, due to increased reinvested earnings of €15,886m and decreased equity investment of €2,321m and other capital investment of €59m.
  • Portfolio investment in foreign assets increased by €103,265m in the quarter due to increased investment in foreign equity and debt instruments (up €55,286m and €47,980m respectively). Portfolio investment in Ireland increased by €98,885m mainly due to an increase in equity investment of €92,570m as well as increased debt instruments of €6,315m.
  • Other investment assets grew by €119,878m while other investment liabilities grew by €105,410m in the first quarter of 2025.
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