Ireland’s Balance of Payments showed a current account surplus of €17.9 billion in Quarter 1 (Q1) 2026 and €48.3 billion for the full year 2025 (See Table 1.3).
Merchandise exports were €77.3 billion in Q1 2026, a decrease of €25.2 billion compared with Q1 2025. Merchandise imports were €46.4 billion in Q1 2026 up €6.2 billion compared with the same period in 2025.
In Q1 2026, Service exports at €126.9 billion, were up €7.2 billion compared with Q1 2025. Service imports at €117.5 billion fell by €1.7 billion over the same period in 2025.
The trade balance at €40.2 billion, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, declined by €22.5 billion in Q1 2026 over the same period in 2025.
The overall income balance for Q1 2026 was -€22.3 billion, an increase of €36.4 billion compared with the same period in 2025.
Direct investment into Ireland rose by €25.2 billion in Q1 2026 while direct investment abroad increased by €21.0 billion in the quarter (See Table 1.4).
The stock of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) assets held in Ireland by foreign investors grew by €25.8 billion in Q1 2026 to €1,104.6 billion. FDI assets held abroad by Irish investors were down by €31.1 billion in the quarter to €1,230.9 billion (See Table 7.2).
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (02 July 2026) published the International Accounts results for Quarter 1 (Q1) 2026.
Commenting on the release, Gillian Roche, Assistant Director General with responsibility for International and Government Accounts Statistics said:
“In International Accounts results, the Current Account of the Balance of Payments recorded a surplus of €48.3 billion in flows with the rest of the world in 2025, a decrease of €47.5 billion compared with the surplus of €95.8 billion in 2024. This was driven to a significant degree by large IP exports in 2024, bringing up the Current Account balance in that year, followed by large IP imports in 2025, bringing down the Current Account balance. The improvement of €20.7 billion in the Merchandise balance between 2024 and 2025 reflects increased International Trade Exports and Merchanting. In comparison, the modified Current Account balance, or CA*, which excludes the impact of re-domiciled companies, aircraft leasing companies and intellectual property products, recorded a surplus of €24.3 billion in the year. Multinational profit net outflows were €171.7 billion in the year, an increase of €45.8 billion on 2024 levels.”
More commentary is available in the Press Statement also issued today.