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International Accounts Q2 2021

Accounts with the UK

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Current account with UK shows surplus of €1.3bn in Quarter 2 2021

	Merchandise	Services	Income	Current Account
Q1 2019	-1.483	3.009	-3.142	-1.615
Q2 2019	-0.498	3.368	-4.424	-1.554
Q3 2019	-0.856	3.755	-3.662	-0.763
Q4 2019	-1.056	3.918	-2.52	0.342
Q1 2020	-0.656	3.419	-3.162	-0.399
Q2 2020	-0.751	3.432	-2.462	0.219
Q3 2020	-0.566	4.149	-2.038	1.546
Q4 2020	-1.654	3.867	-1.724	0.49
Q1 2021	1.305	3.576	-1.483	3.398
Q2 2021	0.085	4.177	-2.993	1.267

Current account with UK (See Table 3.1)

Merchandise exports were €6,074m in the second quarter of 2021, an increase of €1,858m compared with the second quarter of 2020.
Merchandise imports were €5,989m in the second quarter of 2021, an increase of € 1,022m compared with the second quarter of 2020.
Services exports at €9,751m increased by €1,725m compared to the second quarter of 2020, mainly due computer and financial exports.
Services imports at €5,574m were up €980m over that same period in 2020. These figures were affected by increased levels of business and financial costs.
Investment income earned in UK at €5,618m, decreased by €118m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to UK investors at €8,652m increased by €429m.
When these effects are combined, the trade balance with the UK has increased by €1,580m and net income outflows have increased by €531m, compared with the second quarter of 2020. The result is a current account balance surplus of €1,267m in the second quarter of 2021, up from a current account balance of €219m in the second quarter of 2020.

The experimental table on foreign direct investment with UK (See Table 3.2); shows that direct investment in Ireland from the UK has increased by €416m in the second quarter of 2021. Direct investment abroad from Ireland to the UK has increased by €762m in the second quarter of 2021 mainly due to increases in reinvested earnings and equity.

Table 3.1 Current Account with UK

Table 3.1 Current Account with UK									€ million
		2019	2020	2020				2021
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2
Current Account
Merchandise¹	Exports	21,376	20,158	4,951	4,216	5,006	5,985	5,494	6,074
	Imports	25,269	23,785	5,607	4,967	5,572	7,639	4,189	5,989

of which: Merchanting (net export)	Exports	3,359	3,430	866	834	788	942	944	802

Services	Exports	35,346	35,119	8,433	8,026	8,732	9,928	8,922	9,751
	Imports	21,296	20,252	5,014	4,594	4,583	6,061	5,346	5,574
Transport	Exports	2,488	911	345	117	305	144	94	135
	Imports	678	648	164	130	151	203	133	176
Tourism and Travel²	Exports	1,056	286	179	29	34	44	12	16
	Imports	1,403	528	283	29	91	125	46	65
Insurance	Exports	1,950	1,944	545	487	447	465	553	635
	Imports	1,898	1,674	522	424	358	370	516	429
Financial services	Exports	6,746	6,992	1,472	1,651	1,806	2,063	1,910	2,037
	Imports	6,337	6,518	1,291	1,630	1,465	2,132	1,786	1,946
Royalties/Licences	Exports	466	396	85	78	89	144	93	102
	Imports	299	316	90	68	67	91	72	72
Computer services³	Exports	12,325	14,661	3,293	3,195	3,632	4,541	4,053	4,205
	Imports	230	240	46	59	67	68	53	81
Business services	Exports	5,118	4,633	1,254	1,053	1,046	1,280	1,046	1,178
	Imports	9,409	9,310	2,368	2,032	2,128	2,782	2,503	2,546
(of which: Operational leasing)	Exports	905	826	229	213	186	198	204	204
	Imports	148	145	*	*	*	*	*	*
Other	Exports	5,198	5,296	1,258	1,416	1,374	1,248	1,161	1,442
	Imports	1,039	1,013	250	221	253	289	238	258

Merchandise and Services Total	Exports	56,724	55,278	13,384	12,242	13,738	15,914	14,416	15,824
	Imports	46,566	44,037	10,621	9,561	10,155	13,700	9,535	11,563

Trade balance	Net	10,157	11,242	2,763	2,681	3,584	2,214	4,881	4,261

Primary Income	Inflows	25,530	22,120	5,633	5,757	5,453	5,277	5,816	5,640
	Outflows	39,497	31,705	8,849	8,268	7,539	7,049	7,356	8,691
(of which : Investment Income)	Inflows	25,306	22,000	5,577	5,736	5,431	5,256	5,795	5,618
	Outflows	39,178	31,494	8,770	8,223	7,492	7,009	7,314	8,652
Direct investment income	Inflows	2,396	2,794	201	938	939	716	1,266	886
	Outflows	3,970	1,918	528	580	482	328	18	656
Portfolio investment income	Inflows	15,174	13,982	3,932	3,426	3,303	3,321	3,382	3,555
	Outflows	31,873	26,444	7,340	6,865	6,322	5,917	6,526	7,233
Other investment income	Inflows	7,737	5,225	1,444	1,373	1,189	1,219	1,146	1,177
	Outflows	3,336	3,132	903	778	687	764	770	763

Secondary Income	Inflows	1,224	1,688	503	377	418	390	306	350
	Outflows	1,005	1,489	449	328	370	342	249	292

Income balance	Net	-13,748	-9,386	-3,162	-2,462	-2,038	-1,724	-1,483	-2,993

Current Account - Total	Inflows	83,478	79,087	19,520	18,376	19,610	21,581	20,538	21,814
	Outflows	87,067	77,229	19,919	18,156	18,063	21,091	17,140	20,547

Current Account Balance with UK	Net	-3,590	1,856	-399	219	1,546	490	3,398	1,267
¹Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.
²Under the credit item, passenger fare receipts of resident carriers from foreign visitors are excluded; such receipts are included under transport credits - see Background Notes.
³Covers exports and imports of software that were not incorporated as part of computer hardware or physical media but separately transmitted by electronic means. The value of sales and purchases of additional software licences is also included.

Open in Excel: International Accounts Q2 2021 Table 3.1 (XLS 20KB)

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Table 3.2 Foreign Direct Investment with UK

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Table 3.2 Foreign Direct investment with UK¹									€ million
		2019	2020	2020				2021
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2

Direct Investment	Abroad	6,477	-1,706	-1,642	-586	-767	1,289	1,565	762
	In Ireland	-10,576	2,441	1,023	1,534	-136	20	1,192	416

Equity	Abroad	3,500	8,432	*	-1,127	*	389	-186	167
	In Ireland	*	-3,768	-10	-2,466	-1,099	-193	93	336
Reinvested Earnings	Abroad	1,552	2,086	38	785	807	456	1,123	769
	In Ireland	2,173	22	-203	156	240	-171	-180	458
Other Capital	Abroad	1,428	-12,224	*	-244	*	444	628	-173
	In Ireland	*	6,185	1,236	3,843	723	383	1,279	-378
¹For Direct Investment, a 'directional' categorisation is used: 'Abroad' 'indicates direct investment by Irish investors in British companies; British direct investment into Ireland is indicated by the heading 'In Ireland'.

International Accounts Q2 2021

Accounts with the UK

Accounts with the UK

Current account with UK shows surplus of €1.3bn in Quarter 2 2021

Current account with UK (See Table 3.1)

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