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Balance of International Payments

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Current account balance of over €11bn in Quarter 3 2019

Table 1.1 Balance of International Payments€ million
 Merchandise BalanceServices and Income BalanceCurrent Account BalanceCurrent Account Balance as % of GDP
Q3 201828,220-16,79311,42713.5
Q3 201933,207-22,04711,16012.4
     
Q1-Q3 201886,083-52,76933,31313.9
Q1-Q3 201993,515-97,904-4,388-1.7

The Balance of Payments current account, a measure of Ireland’s economic flows with the rest of the world, showed a surplus of €11.2bn in the third quarter of 2019. Quarter on quarter, we see large increases in goods exports due to contract manufacturing abroad along with higher profit outflows from the foreign-owned manufacturing sector. Computer services exports have remained largely unchanged from the previous quarter and ICT sector profit outflows have returned to the levels observed in 2018. 

Current Account
Q2 2017-45.5378864208945
Q3 201718.4851609363755
Q4 201715.924476157619
Q1 201814.3462968596149
Q2 201813.7409318262381
Q3 201813.5071542428803
Q4 20181.1704871990633
Q1 201913.0992757213929
Q2 2019-32.1933255056759
Q3 201912.3645044673245
MerchandiseServicesPrimary IncomeSecondary IncomeBalance on Current Account
Q2 201724.546-38.743-16.392-1.17-31.759
Q3 201728.6630.26-13.902-0.62614.395
Q4 201730.723-1.571-15.63-0.69412.827
Q1 201829.06-0.151-16.681-0.90211.325
Q2 201828.803-0.986-16.269-0.98710.561
Q3 201828.220.527-16.561-0.75911.427
Q4 201826.877-4.961-20.22-0.7180.979
Q1 201932.151-1.224-18.682-1.25610.99
Q2 201928.157-33.412-20.708-0.575-26.538
Q3 201933.207-0.312-20.924-0.81111.16

Other points of note in the Quarter 3 2019 results are:

Current account (see Table 1.3)

  • Merchandise exports were €57,034m in the third quarter of 2019, an increase of €3,261m compared with the third quarter of 2018. Merchandise imports were €23,826m in the third quarter of 2019, a decrease of €1,727m compared with the same period in 2018, mainly due to lower imports of aircraft.
  • Service exports at €53,670m increased by €7,666m compared to the third quarter of 2018, mainly due to higher computer services exports.
  • Service imports at €53,983m were up €8,507m over the same period in 2018. These figures were mainly explained by increased imports of royalties (+€3,378m) and business services (+€4,101m).
  • Ireland’s trade balance at €32,895m, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, increased by €4,148m in the third quarter of 2019 over the same period in 2018.
  • Investment income earned abroad at €23,862m, increased by €1,467m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €45,038m increased by €5,781m, mainly due to increased profits in the manufacturing sector. This left the overall income balance for the quarter at -€21,735m, €4,415m lower than the same period in 2018.
Direct InvestmentPortfolio InvestmentOther InvestmentReserve AssetsBalance on Financial Account
Q2 2017-21.375-41.42728.3710.163-34.268
Q3 20176.4880.4526.860.23514.035
Q4 2017-31.389-1.05947.7060.10215.36
Q1 201811.8659.333-21.878-0.022-0.702
Q2 20189.67-27.04735.1660.00517.794
Q3 201810.784-2.4091.680.20910.265
Q4 2018-7.91814.452-47.9440.578-40.832
Q1 20192.627-3.74812.7950.00211.675
Q2 2019-49.036-14.05925.3150.121-37.659
Q3 2019-1.63934.764-35.4080.125-2.157

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

  • Direct investment in Ireland increased by €29,879m in the third quarter of 2019. This change was driven by reinvested earnings of €19,215m and an increase in other capital of €13,928m. Direct investment abroad increased by €28,240m in the quarter, mainly because of increases in other capital of €29,236m.
  • Portfolio investment in foreign assets increased by €158,477m in the quarter. Investment in foreign equity increased by €18,293m while investment in foreign debt instruments increased by €140,184m. Portfolio investment in Ireland increased by €123,713m, mainly due to increased purchase of Irish equity of €113,256m.
  • Other investment assets increased by €33,364m in the third quarter of 2019, while other investment liabilities increased by €68,772m mainly due to the activity of IFSC enterprises.
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 Accounts showing IFSC and non-IFSC activity

Table 1.6 Current and Capital Accounts showing geographical detail

Table 1.7 Financial Account showing geographical detail


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