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Balance of International Payments

Balance of International Payments

Current account balance of €15.8bn in Quarter 2 2022

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
Q2 202140,137-23,77816,35916.1
Q2 202249,081-33,23415,84813.3
 
Q1-Q2 202182,194-48,78133,41316.5
Q1-Q2 202296,865-63,97632,89113.9

Current account balance of €15.8bn in quarter 2 2022

The Balance of Payments current account, a measure of Ireland’s economic flows with the rest of the world, showed a surplus of €15.8bn in the second quarter of 2022. Increased merchandise exports and computer services exports have contributed to the current account surplus.

Current Account
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 202214.5523170659894
Q2 202213.2666876179988
MerchandiseServicesPrimary IncomeSecondary IncomeBalance on Current Account
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
Q2 202249.0812.974-35.022-1.18615.848

Current account (see Table 1.3)

  • Merchandise exports were €85,130m in the second quarter of 2022, an increase of €17,451m compared with the second quarter of 2021. Merchandise imports were €36,048m in the second quarter of 2022, an increase of €8,506m over the same period in 2021.
  • Service exports at €81,710m increased by €10,875m compared to the second quarter of 2021, mainly due to higher Computer services exports (which increased by €6,779m) and higher Transport and Tourism services exports (which increased by €1,627m and €915m respectively).
  • Service imports at €78,736m were up €13,104m over the same period in 2021, mainly due to higher Royalty imports and higher Business services imports (which increased by €4,169m and €5,631m respectively).
  • Ireland’s trade balance at €52,055m, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, increased by €6,715m in the second quarter of 2022 over the same period in 2021.
  • Investment income earned abroad at €35,380m, increased by €5,174m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €70,314m increased by €12,171m. The overall income balance for the quarter at -€36,207m decreased by €7,226m compared with the same period in 2021.
Direct InvestmentPortfolio InvestmentOther InvestmentReserve AssetsBalance on Financial Account
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
Q2 202224.456-32.64314.7070.0336.553

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

  • Direct investment in Ireland decreased by €33,949m in the second quarter of 2022. This was due to decreased other capital of €42,067m and decreased equity of €24,390m which were offset by increased reinvestment of earnings of €32,508m. Direct investment abroad decreased by €9,494m in the quarter, mainly due to a decrease in equity investment of €56,561m which was offset by increased reinvested earnings and other capital investment abroad.
  • Portfolio investment in foreign assets decreased by €22,273m in the quarter due to a decreased in investment in foreign debt instruments of €23,407m which was marginally offset by increased investment in foreign equity of €1,134m. Portfolio investment in Ireland increased by €10,370m, due to increased investment in debt instruments and equity of €7,739m and €2,631m.
  • Other investment assets and liabilities decreased by €18,350m and €33,057m respectively in the second 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