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International Accounts Q3 2023

Balance of International Payments

Current account balance of €20.8bn in Quarter 3 2023

Online ISSN: 2565-6384

CSO statistical publication, 01 December 2023, 11am

Table 1.1 Balance of International Payments				€ million
	Merchandise Balance	Services and Income Balance	Current Account Balance	Current Account Balance as % of GDP
Q3 2022	53,584	-43,987	9,598	7.2
Q3 2023	37,416	-16,642	20,775	16.2

Q1-Q3 2022	147,781	-108,338	39,445	10.5
Q1-Q3 2023	131,888	-81,712	50,178	13.2

Open in Excel: International Accounts Q3 2023 Table 1.1 (XLS 10KB)

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 €20.8bn in the third quarter of 2023 up €11.2bn on the Q32022 surplus of €9.6bn. Increased services and income balances were partially offset by a decrease in the merchandise balance.

	Current Account
Q2 2021	15.9552797914293
Q3 2021	19.3856637011868
Q4 2021	3.37455124560402
Q1 2022	13.5198401890292
Q2 2022	11.3119912946522
Q3 2022	7.1614478667581
Q4 2022	11.5106290265595
Q1 2023	10.7963983773161
Q2 2023	12.6318248310678
Q3 2023	16.1734313941726

	Merchandise	Services	Primary Income	Secondary Income	Balance on Current Account
Q2 2021	39.921	6.112	-28.575	-1.002	16.456
Q3 2021	45.042	6.112	-28.159	-0.692	22.303
Q4 2021	41.343	-12.772	-23.334	-1.427	3.811
Q1 2022	46.26	6.967	-36.005	-1.181	16.042
Q2 2022	47.937	1.245	-34.184	-1.193	13.805
Q3 2022	53.584	-2.018	-40.823	-1.146	9.598
Q4 2022	54.501	-6.428	-31.754	-1.175	15.144
Q1 2023	55.993	-0.825	-40.407	-1.19	13.572
Q2 2023	38.479	7.404	-28.868	-1.184	15.831
Q3 2023	37.416	8.596	-24.18	-1.058	20.775

Current account (see Table 1.3)

Merchandise exports were €71,871m in the third quarter of 2023, a decrease of €23,100m compared with the third quarter of 2022. Merchandise imports were €34,455m in the third quarter of 2023, a decrease of €6,932m over the same period in 2022.
Service exports at €92,652m increased by €6,164m compared to the third quarter of 2022, mainly due to higher computer services exports (which increased by €5,831m).
Service imports at €84,056m were down €4,450m over the same period in 2022, mainly due to a decrease in R&D related IP service imports.
Ireland’s trade balance at €46,012m, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports fell by €5,554m in the third quarter of 2023 over the same period in 2022.
Investment income earned abroad at €62,106m, increased by €29,375m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €86,457m increased by €12,719m. The overall income balance for the quarter at -€25,237m increased by €16,731m compared with the same period in 2022.

	Direct Investment	Portfolio Investment	Other Investment	Reserve Assets	Balance on Financial Account
Q2 2021	7.268	-6.509	24.242	0.072	25.074
Q3 2021	6.249	-9.942	13.307	4.081	13.696
Q4 2021	19.485	-15.819	2.913	0.654	7.233
Q1 2022	15.397	-38.231	40.334	-0.129	17.37
Q2 2022	24.269	-24.519	11.895	0.033	11.677
Q3 2022	-22.262	-47.113	77.433	0.603	8.66
Q4 2022	15.314	-27.917	26.274	-0.022	13.647
Q1 2023	8.547	-27.996	29.196	0.011	9.759
Q2 2023	3.846	81.661	-83.786	-0.024	1.696
Q3 2023	-16.539	45.584	-9.69	-0.529	18.826

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

Direct investment in Ireland increased by €23,650m in the third quarter of 2023. This was due to increased reinvestment of earnings and other capital investments of €12,910m and €11,103m which were marginally offset by a decrease in equity investment of €364m. Direct investment abroad increased by €7,112m in the quarter, mainly due to increased equity investment and reinvestment of earnings abroad.
Portfolio investment in foreign assets increased by €88,835m in the quarter due to increased investment in foreign debt instruments of €57,700m and foreign equity of €31,135m. Portfolio investment in Ireland increased by €43,251m due to increased investment in equity investment of €44,757m.
Other investment assets fell by €8,543m while other investment liabilities grew by €1,147m in the third quarter of 2023.

Table 1.2 Summary of Current, Capital and Financial Account Balances

Table 1.2 Summary of Current, Capital and Financial Account Balances														€ million
Period							Balance on Current Account	Balance on Capital Account	Direct Investment	Portfolio Investment	Other² Investment	Reserve Assets	Balance on Financial Account	Net errors and omissions
		Merchandise¹	services and income balance
			Services	Primary Income	Secondary Income	Total
2012	Year	36,896	-6,282	-33,939	-2,609	-42,830	-5,934	86	-20,497	-767	10,952	-12	-10,324	-4,476
2013	Year	34,506	-718	-28,069	-2,931	-31,718	2,787	-936	-16,137	35,737	-15,467	10	4,143	2,289
2014	Year	40,731	-5,546	-30,341	-2,750	-38,637	2,093	-6,769	-5,279	-27,862	20,506	136	-12,498	-7,824
2015	Year	113,394	-37,715	-60,785	-3,338	-101,838	11,556	-1,303	-44,510	-88,281	138,621	494	6,321	-3,930
2016	Year	106,088	-63,735	-49,912	-3,813	-117,460	-11,373	-4,331	-8,430	27,711	-29,073	1,456	-8,335	7,368
2017	Year	109,119	-43,491	-61,063	-3,106	-107,660	1,457	-25,855	-48,583	-57,643	89,127	399	-16,700	7,697
2018	Year	109,446	-16,342	-73,440	-3,656	-93,438	16,007	-52,019	14,540	37,841	-93,670	762	-40,525	-4,514
2019	Year	118,116	-105,564	-79,838	-3,486	-188,888	-70,772	-35,310	-104,826	10,153	-7,674	422	-101,925	4,156
2020	Year	142,529	-71,912	-91,289	-3,832	-167,033	-24,504	-11,877	-99,737	-5,051	71,431	1,282	-32,071	4,310
2021	Year	168,500	5,449	-110,009	-4,408	-108,968	59,532	1,448	50,793	-19,645	21,024	4,980	57,155	-3,825
2022	Year	202,282	-234	-142,766	-4,695	-147,695	54,589	-1,168	32,718	-137,780	155,936	485	51,354	-2,067

2015	Quarter 1	26,790	-5,794	-16,013	-986	-22,793	3,998	-707	38,272	-72,519	36,581	108	2,441	-849
	Quarter 2	26,894	-8,024	-11,422	-794	-20,240	6,654	-226	-2,591	13,757	-9,476	307	1,996	-4,432
	Quarter 3	29,755	-7,431	-17,792	-593	-25,816	3,939	100	9,983	-17,663	14,477	-24	6,773	2,735
	Quarter 4	29,955	-16,466	-15,558	-965	-32,989	-3,035	-470	-90,174	-11,856	97,039	103	-4,889	-1,384
2016	Quarter 1	27,290	-14,564	-11,001	-1,020	-26,585	705	-2,670	12,279	-7,497	1,420	1,095	7,297	9,262
	Quarter 2	24,440	-16,885	-11,342	-768	-28,995	-4,555	-586	-293	2,933	-14,069	-224	-11,653	-6,513
	Quarter 3	26,315	-12,294	-14,425	-820	-27,539	-1,224	161	-10,522	10,385	-7,662	379	-7,420	-6,357
	Quarter 4	28,043	-19,992	-13,144	-1,205	-34,341	-6,299	-1,236	-9,894	21,890	-8,762	206	3,441	10,976
2017	Quarter 1	25,187	-3,437	-15,139	-616	-19,192	5,994	-8,538	-2,307	-15,609	6,190	-101	-11,827	-9,283
	Quarter 2	24,546	-38,743	-16,392	-1,170	-56,305	-31,759	-12,079	-21,375	-41,427	28,371	163	-34,268	9,570
	Quarter 3	28,663	260	-13,902	-626	-14,268	14,395	-4,640	6,488	452	6,860	235	14,035	4,279
	Quarter 4	30,723	-1,571	-15,630	-694	-17,895	12,827	-598	-31,389	-1,059	47,706	102	15,360	3,131
2018	Quarter 1	28,481	632	-18,056	-974	-18,398	10,082	-109	15,545	19,454	-34,009	4	995	-8,979
	Quarter 2	28,125	-41	-17,298	-1,060	-18,399	9,726	59	10,072	-15,921	19,446	-8	13,589	3,804
	Quarter 3	27,339	1,279	-17,611	-830	-17,162	10,177	63	11,198	8,377	-16,084	196	3,688	-6,553
	Quarter 4	25,501	-18,212	-20,475	-792	-39,479	-13,978	-52,032	-22,275	25,931	-63,023	570	-58,797	7,214
2019	Quarter 1	30,551	334	-19,621	-1,346	-20,633	9,917	-6,936	10,253	5,354	-7,115	-7	8,485	5,504
	Quarter 2	27,129	-38,748	-21,285	-628	-60,661	-33,532	-17,385	-53,151	-17,922	17,619	116	-53,339	-2,422
	Quarter 3	31,248	1,313	-20,094	-852	-19,633	11,616	-5,093	-2,461	-8,325	12,318	144	1,677	-4,847
	Quarter 4	29,188	-68,463	-18,838	-660	-87,961	-58,773	-5,896	-59,467	31,046	-30,496	169	-58,748	5,921
2020	Quarter 1	36,218	-59,824	-21,844	-1,069	-82,737	-46,519	-3,061	-49,271	-79,843	70,773	139	-58,201	-8,621
	Quarter 2	34,345	430	-21,386	-982	-21,938	12,407	-7,552	-47,127	59,918	-727	-14	12,051	7,196
	Quarter 3	37,544	2,593	-27,987	-736	-26,130	11,414	-2,080	-8,694	-3,688	15,533	761	3,912	-5,422
	Quarter 4	34,422	-15,111	-20,072	-1,045	-36,228	-1,806	816	5,355	18,562	-14,148	396	10,167	11,157
2021	Quarter 1	42,194	5,997	-29,941	-1,287	-25,231	16,962	2,967	17,791	12,625	-19,438	173	11,152	-8,777
	Quarter 2	39,921	6,112	-28,575	-1,002	-23,465	16,456	914	7,268	-6,509	24,242	72	25,074	7,704
	Quarter 3	45,042	6,112	-28,159	-692	-22,739	22,303	-333	6,249	-9,942	13,307	4,081	13,696	-8,274
	Quarter 4	41,343	-12,772	-23,334	-1,427	-37,533	3,811	-2,100	19,485	-15,819	2,913	654	7,233	5,522
2022	Quarter 1	46,260	6,967	-36,005	-1,181	-30,219	16,042	812	15,397	-38,231	40,334	-129	17,370	516
	Quarter 2	47,937	1,245	-34,184	-1,193	-34,132	13,805	-171	24,269	-24,519	11,895	33	11,677	-1,957
	Quarter 3	53,584	-2,018	-40,823	-1,146	-43,987	9,598	-901	-22,262	-47,113	77,433	603	8,660	-37
	Quarter 4	54,501	-6,428	-31,754	-1,175	-39,357	15,144	-908	15,314	-27,917	26,274	-22	13,647	-589
2023	Quarter 1	55,993	-825	-40,407	-1,190	-42,422	13,572	-133	8,547	-27,996	29,196	11	9,759	-3,680
	Quarter 2	38,479	7,404	-28,868	-1,184	-22,648	15,831	-6,014	3,846	81,661	-83,786	-24	1,696	-8,121
	Quarter 3	37,416	8,596	-24,180	-1,058	-16,642	20,775	-2,141	-16,539	45,584	-9,690	-529	18,826	192
¹Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.
²Includes financial derivatives and also life insurance liabilities to non-residents. Occasionally includes large capital transactions which cannot be shown in the Capital Account Balance due to confidentiality constraints.

Open in Excel: International Accounts Q3 2023 Table 1.2 (XLS 16KB)

Visit Table BPQ15 on PxStat

Table 1.3 Current and Capital Accounts

Table 1.3 Current and Capital Accounts										€ million
		2021	2022	2022				2023
Item		Year	Year	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3
Current Account
Merchandise¹	Exports	280,741	354,429	78,365	85,341	94,971	95,752	88,977	76,365	71,871
	Imports	112,240	152,146	32,104	37,404	41,387	41,251	32,984	37,885	34,455

International trade	Exports	165,716	208,449	52,203	52,868	53,698	49,680	50,868	51,320	47,956
	Imports	99,549	138,818	29,222	35,813	38,162	35,621	32,110	34,074	30,455
Goods for processing	Exports	101,456	131,975	18,450	32,280	37,397	43,848	35,008	20,349	18,737
	Imports	9,021	8,273	1,971	-98	1,492	4,908	-25	2,091	1,728
Other conceptual adjustments	Exports	-10,551	-10,093	-1406	-2227	-2389	-4071	-2464	-695	-2392
	Imports	3,670	5,055	911	1689	1733	722	898	1721	2272
Merchanting (net export)	Exports	24,121	24,099	9,119	2,421	6,264	6,295	5,565	5,390	7,571

Services	Exports	299,781	339,622	78,462	83,185	86,488	91,487	83,194	90,727	92,652
	Imports	294,332	339,857	71,495	81,940	88,506	97,916	84,019	83,323	84,056
Repairs and Processing	Exports	1,720	2,635	585	541	755	754	711	905	763
	Imports	8,190	11,165	2,302	2,560	2,702	3,601	3,213	2,341	2,429
Transport	Exports	2,894	7,795	872	1,932	3,206	1,785	1,634	2,813	3,945
	Imports	4,751	6,066	1,302	1,514	1,733	1,517	1,218	1,353	1,265
Tourism and Travel ²	Exports	2,273	6,686	736	1,884	2,471	1,595	1,283	2,266	1,912
	Imports	2,166	8,054	864	2,124	3,162	1,904	1,781	2,517	3,211
Insurance	Exports	13,339	14,825	3,700	3,738	3,603	3,784	3,928	3,839	3,717
	Imports	10,354	14,172	3,602	3,551	3,526	3,493	3,536	3,722	3,477
Financial services	Exports	23,195	21,836	5,606	5,424	5,517	5,289	5,244	5,538	5,711
	Imports	20,698	19,808	5,090	4,953	4,900	4,865	4,598	4,934	4,921
Royalties/Licences	Exports	15,506	14,128	3,458	3,494	3,033	4,143	3,779	3,068	3,298
	Imports	113,164	135,948	29,032	32,601	32,891	41,424	37,081	30,468	33,027
of which: Pharmaceutical products and preparations	Exports	159	226	63	69	38	56	42	85	28
	Imports	18,476	30,939	3,969	7,859	7,823	11,288	6,063	6,685	4,412
Information and communication	Exports	9,696	7,339	2,333	1,905	*	*	1,103	1,193	1,154
	Imports	80,392	88,582	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Communications	Exports	237	158	40	41	38	39	38	40	35
	Imports	755	640	159	161	162	158	158	164	168
Computer services³	Exports	173,750	195,719	45,520	48,871	48,812	52,516	49,636	52,623	54,643
	Imports	9,388	9,473	2,029	2,357	2,564	2,523	2,160	2,461	2,977
Business services	Exports	54,075	63,786	15,610	14,404	17,116	16,656	13,761	16,167	16,181
	Imports	123,026	132,164	26,605	31,483	36,290	37,786	29,716	34,619	31,817
Research and development	Exports	6,369	7,176	1,610	1,617	1,630	2,319	1,381	1,860	2,235
	Imports	45,821	45,133	8,115	10,327	13,033	13,658	7,946	9,833	9,761
of which: IP related	Exports	1,327	1,764	555	*	*	513	8	*	590
	Imports	18,209	8,080	1,026	*	*	773	542	278	177
Operational leasing	Exports	17,981	18,254	4,492	4,343	4,640	4,779	4,509	4,922	4,926
	Imports	1,596	1,695	388	404	445	458	383	326	332
Misc. business services⁴	Exports	29,726	38,356	9,508	8,444	10,846	9,558	7,872	9,385	9,019
	Imports	75,610	85,336	18,102	20,752	22,812	23,670	21,387	24,461	21,725
Other services n.e.s.	Exports	12,793	12,056	2,334	2,857	1,938	4,927	3,181	3,469	2,446
	Imports	1,840	2,365	510	636	575	644	559	743	765

Merchandise and Services - Total	Exports	580,522	694,052	156,827	168,526	181,459	187,240	172,171	167,091	164,522
	Imports	406,573	492,003	103,600	119,344	129,893	139,166	117,003	121,208	118,510

Trade Balance	Net	173,949	202,048	53,227	49,182	51,566	48,073	55,168	45,883	46,012

Primary Income	Inflows	126,049	153,352	32,910	39,968	33,232	47,242	46,355	59,255	62,606
	Outflows	236,058	296,118	68,915	74,152	74,055	78,996	86,762	88,123	86,786
Compensation of Employees	Inflows	152	413	105	112	98	98	98	98	98
	Outflows	453	643	146	153	166	178	170	179	180
Investment Income	Inflows	124,367	151,381	32,428	39,488	32,731	46,734	45,882	58,789	62,106
	Outflows	234,823	294,558	68,608	73,591	73,738	78,621	86,445	87,494	86,457
Direct investment income	Inflows	36,439	41,072	9,382	12,516	4,406	14,768	11,038	17,149	19,815
	Outflows	137,181	174,653	43,715	44,069	43,059	43,810	48,869	43,959	42,804

of which: Manufacturing	Outflows	88,383	117,777	32,195	27,195	31,478	26,909	33,201	23,202	22,111
Information and communication	Outflows	30,410	36,059	6,942	11,302	6,717	11,098	10,082	13,361	10,945

Income on equity	Inflows	34,643	37,468	8,871	11,920	3,525	13,152	9,952	15,899	18,395
	Outflows	127,921	162,845	41,206	41,493	40,024	40,122	45,342	40,305	39,336
Dividends & distributed	Inflows	13,727	8,912	1,066	1,284	5,010	1,552	1,707	2,696	8,690
branch profits	Outflows	75,219	83,342	28,497	5,559	17,809	31,477	54,247	78,060	26,376
Reinvested earnings	Inflows	20,916	28,556	7,805	10,636	-1,485	11,600	8,244	13,203	9,704
	Outflows	52,702	79,505	12,710	35,934	22,216	8,645	-8,906	-37,755	12,959
Income on debt	Inflows	1,796	3,605	511	596	882	1,616	1,087	1,250	1,421
	Outflows	9,259	11,807	2,508	2,576	3,035	3,688	3,528	3,654	3,469
Portfolio investment income	Inflows	74,087	86,493	19,036	23,248	21,524	22,685	24,051	28,547	27,268
	Outflows	83,691	101,479	21,287	25,850	25,570	28,772	30,227	35,635	34,635
Income on equity	Inflows	28,146	31,669	7,143	10,182	7,313	7,031	7,783	10,950	8,773
	Outflows	65,166	83,941	17,178	21,729	21,103	23,931	25,303	30,589	28,280
Income on debt	Inflows	45,941	54,824	11,894	13,065	14,211	15,654	16,268	17,597	18,495
	Outflows	18,524	17,537	4,109	4,121	4,467	4,840	4,925	5,045	6,356
Other investment income	Inflows	13,842	23,816	4,010	3,725	6,800	9,281	10,792	13,092	15,023
	Outflows	13,951	18,424	3,606	3,671	5,108	6,039	7,348	7,901	9,018
Other primary income	Inflows	1,529	1,559	377	368	404	410	375	368	402
	Outflows	783	917	161	408	151	197	147	450	149

Secondary Income	Inflows	6,483	7,879	1,889	1,865	2,211	1,914	2,167	2,174	2,718
	Outflows	10,892	12,574	3,070	3,057	3,357	3,090	3,357	3,359	3,775

Income Balance	Net	-114,417	-147,459	-37,185	-35,377	-41,968	-32,929	-41,597	-30,052	-25,237

Current Account - Total	Inflows	713,055	855,283	191,626	210,358	216,903	236,396	220,694	228,520	229,846
	Outflows	653,525	800,694	175,584	196,553	207,305	221,252	207,122	212,690	209,071

Current Account Balance	Net	59,532	54,589	16,042	13,805	9,598	15,144	13,572	15,831	20,775

Capital Account Balance	Net	1,448	-1,168	812	-171	-901	-908	-133	-6,014	-2,141

Memorandum Item:
Government Income	Inflows	39	54	6	14	14	20	13	4	28
	Outflows	2,565	2,455	814	481	552	608	797	552	647
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.
⁴Covers mainly advertising and inter-affiliate management charges.

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Table 1.4 Financial Account

Table 1.4 Financial Account¹								€ million
		2021	2022	2022				2023
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3

Direct Investment	Abroad	47,471	8,922	8,148	-4,516	-14,735	20,025	10,567	-36,940	7,112
	In Ireland	-3,325	-23,796	-7,249	-28,786	7,526	4,713	2,020	-40,785	23,650

Equity	Abroad	47,819	-52,082	8,874	*	*	-392	1,992	*	*
	In Ireland	-17,782	-69,153	-35,223	-23,109	-8,195	-2,626	8,963	-55,600	-364
Reinvested Earnings	Abroad	21,360	28,556	7,805	10,636	-1,485	11,600	8,244	12,783	9,704
	In Ireland	52,592	78,961	12,767	35,790	21,869	8,535	-8,896	-37,801	12,910
Other Capital	Abroad	-21,706	32,447	-8,532	*	*	8,817	330	*	*
	In Ireland	-38,133	-33,601	15,208	-41,465	-6,146	-1,198	1,952	52,616	11,103

Portfolio Investment	Assets	345,077	-41,525	-46,916	-12,879	-45,408	63,678	-10,332	95,019	88,835
	Liabilities	364,722	96,255	-8,685	11,640	1,705	91,595	17,664	13,358	43,251

Equity	Assets	183,454	-5,743	11,379	2,112	-16,915	-2,319	18,603	8,979	31,135
	Liabilities	282,999	96,677	-14,507	1,115	9,080	100,989	7,723	5,502	44,757
Debt Instruments	Assets	161,624	-35,782	-58,295	-14,991	-28,493	65,997	-28,935	86,041	57,700
	Liabilities	81,724	-420	5,823	10,525	-7,375	-9,393	9,942	7,857	-1,505
Bonds and notes	Assets	119,626	-16,295	-2,255	-7,540	-15,834	9,334	43,432	56,221	41,938
	Liabilities	80,351	934	6,683	9,745	-3,302	-12,192	12,359	2,486	-3,805
Money market instruments	Assets	41,998	-19,486	-56,039	-7,451	-12,659	56,663	-72,367	29,820	15,762
	Liabilities	1,373	-1,356	-861	779	-4,073	2,799	-2,417	5,370	2,299

Other Investment	Assets	21,389	87,640	101,839	-22,700	95,223	-86,722	25,892	-23,738	-8,543
	Liabilities	365	-68,296	61,505	-34,595	17,790	-112,996	-3,304	60,048	1,147

Loans, currency and deposits	Assets	60,070	128,237	41,619	36,998	68,900	-19,280	57,776	-21,543	4,339
	Liabilities	58,259	-29,597	19,442	17,547	-3,153	-63,433	12,362	26,025	-4,252
Other²	Assets	-38,679	-40,596	60,220	-59,697	26,323	-67,442	-31,884	-2,195	-12,882
	Liabilities	-57,891	-38,696	42,064	-52,142	20,944	-49,562	-15,666	34,023	5,398

Reserve Assets		4,980	485	-129	33	603	-22	11	-24	-529

Monetary gold		176	135	135	0	0	0	0	0	0
Special drawing rights		4,082	164	0	1	171	-8	-7	44	-26
Reserve position in the IMF		0	151	0	56	44	51	1	1	46
Foreign exchange		564	-100	-333	12	217	4	41	-79	-458
Other		156	135	69	-36	171	-69	-24	9	-90

Balance on Financial Account		57,155	51,354	17,370	11,677	8,660	13,647	9,759	1,696	18,826

Net errors and omissions		-3,825	-2,067	516	-1,957	-37	-589	-3,680	-8,121	192
Memorandum Item:
Government financial	Assets	-1,821	217	-474	497	-241	435	-400	4	1,176
transactions	Liabilities	2,978	-9,632	472	-126	-1,932	-8,046	2,747	-485	-255
¹Financial account transactions are categorised under two headings 'Assets' and 'Liabilities' for Portfolio Investment, Other Investment and Reserve Assets. 'For Direct Investment, a 'directional' categorisation is used: 'Abroad' 'indicates direct investment by Irish investors in foreign companies; 'Direct investment into Ireland is indicated by the heading 'In Ireland'.
²Includes financial derivatives; in the case of liabilities this category also includes life insurance liabilities to non-residents. Occasionally includes large capital transactions which cannot be shown in the Capital Account Balance due to confidentiality constraints.

Open in Excel: International Accounts Q3 2023 Table 1.4 (XLS 14KB)

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Table 1.5 Current, Capital and Financial Account activity classified by Institutional Sector

Table 1.5 Current, Capital and Financial Account activity classified by Institutional Sector¹								€ million
		2021	2022	2022				2023
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3
Current Account - Total	Inflows	713,055	855,283	191,626	210,358	216,903	236,396	220,694	228,520	229,846
	Outflows	653,525	800,694	175,584	196,553	207,305	221,252	207,122	212,690	209,071

Merchandise²	Exports	280,741	354,429	78,365	85,341	94,971	95,752	88,977	76,365	71,871
	Imports	112,240	152,146	32,104	37,404	41,387	41,251	32,984	37,885	34,455

Services	Exports	299,781	339,622	78,462	83,185	86,488	91,487	83,194	90,727	92,652
	Imports	294,332	339,857	71,495	81,940	88,506	97,916	84,019	83,323	84,056

General Government	Exports	448	464	115	114	115	120	77	109	77
	Imports	29	98	19	20	21	38	26	25	28
Monetary Authority ³	Exports	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Imports	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Monetary Financial Institutions⁴	Exports	7,183	8,163	1,997	1,966	2,295	1,905	2,390	2,549	2,398
	Imports	2,947	3,611	748	855	1,098	910	1,101	989	767
Other Sectors⁵	Exports	292,151	330,998	76,350	81,106	84,079	89,463	80,728	88,068	90,177
	Imports	291,356	336,146	70,727	81,065	87,387	96,967	82,893	82,309	83,260
of which:
Other Financial Intermediaries	Exports	37,416	39,412	9,759	10,057	9,577	10,019	9,566	9,966	9,175
	Imports	51,269	40,658	9,847	10,538	10,294	9,979	9,899	10,215	9,620
Non-Financial Companies⁶	Exports	254,735	291,586	66,591	71,049	74,502	79,444	71,162	78,103	81,002
	Imports	240,087	295,490	60,881	70,528	77,093	86,988	72,993	72,094	73,641

Primary Income	Inflows	126,049	153,352	32,910	39,968	33,232	47,242	46,355	59,255	62,606
	Outflows	236,058	296,118	68,915	74,152	74,055	78,996	86,762	88,123	86,786

General Government	Inflows	39	54	6	14	14	20	13	4	28
	Outflows	2,565	2,455	814	481	552	608	797	552	647
Monetary Authority ³	Inflows	277	168	47	41	40	40	37	42	47
	Outflows	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Monetary Financial Institutions⁴	Inflows	64	9,716	-19	1,078	2,998	5,659	7,552	9,168	10,326
	Outflows	895	9,994	350	1,493	2,630	5,521	7,238	9,136	10,413
Other Sectors⁵	Inflows	125,671	143,414	32,876	38,834	30,181	41,523	38,753	50,042	52,204
	Outflows	232,599	283,669	67,751	72,178	70,873	72,867	78,727	78,436	75,727
of which:
Other Financial Intermediaries	Inflows	93,162	104,488	24,344	26,814	25,583	27,747	28,036	34,353	34,710
	Outflows	93,750	104,025	23,430	26,583	25,718	28,294	28,655	33,629	34,760
Non-Financial Companies⁶	Inflows	32,510	38,927	8,532	12,020	4,598	13,777	10,717	15,688	17,494
	Outflows	138,848	179,644	44,321	45,595	45,155	44,573	50,073	44,806	40,967

Secondary Income	Inflows	6,483	7,879	1,889	1,865	2,211	1,914	2,167	2,174	2,718
	Outflows	10,892	12,574	3,070	3,057	3,357	3,090	3,357	3,359	3,775

General Government	Inflows	247	113	31	28	9	45	12	4	130
	Outflows	3,931	3,986	993	1,017	935	1,041	1,002	938	922
Monetary Authority ³	Inflows	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Outflows	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Monetary Financial Institutions⁴	Inflows	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Outflows	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other Sectors⁵	Inflows	6,238	7,767	1,858	1,837	2,203	1,869	2,155	2,171	2,587
	Outflows	6,961	8,589	2,077	2,041	2,422	2,049	2,355	2,420	2,854
of which:
Other Financial Intermediaries	Inflows	5,010	6,498	1,542	1,520	1,888	1,548	1,826	1,891	2,316
	Outflows	5,010	6,498	1,542	1,520	1,888	1,548	1,826	1,891	2,316
Non-Financial Companies⁶	Inflows	1,228	1,269	316	317	315	321	329	280	271
	Outflows	1,951	2,091	535	521	534	501	529	529	538

Balance on Current Account		59,532	54,589	16,042	13,805	9,598	15,144	13,572	15,831	20,775

Balance on Capital Account		1,448	-1,168	812	-171	-901	-908	-133	-6,014	-2,141

Financial Account⁷
Direct investment	Abroad	47,471	8,922	8,148	-4,516	-14,735	20,025	10,567	-36,940	7,112
	In Ireland	-3,325	-23,796	-7,249	-28,786	7,526	4,713	2,020	-40,785	23,650

General Government	Abroad	-3	0	0	0	0	0	*	*	0
	In Ireland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Monetary Authority ³	Abroad	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	In Ireland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Monetary Financial Institutions⁴	Abroad	-296	725	570	173	-106	88	*	*	98
	In Ireland	-1,641	-710	-57	-232	-907	486	-129	-1,011	353
Other Sectors⁵	Abroad	47,768	8,196	7,577	-4,688	-14,630	19,937	10,420	-37,035	7,014
	In Ireland	-1,680	-23,088	-7,192	-28,553	8,433	4,224	2,149	-39,775	23,295
of which:
Other Financial Intermediaries	Abroad	34,818	666	4,585	1,971	-5,696	-194	211	1,349	2,048
	In Ireland	64,315	-1,204	3,067	-17,331	10,466	2,594	-3,548	564	12,132
Non-Financial Companies⁶	Abroad	12,950	7,530	2,992	-6,659	-8,934	20,131	10,209	-38,384	4,966
	In Ireland	-65,995	-21,884	-10,259	-11,222	-2,033	1,630	5,697	-40,339	11,163

Portfolio investment	Assets	345,077	-41,525	-46,916	-12,879	-45,408	63,678	-10,332	95,019	88,835
	Liabilities	364,722	96,255	-8,685	11,640	1,705	91,595	17,664	13,358	43,251

General Government	Assets	-1,167	420	0	567	-213	66	27	0	-183
	Liabilities	1,148	-9,648	366	49	-1,994	-8,069	2,745	-310	-255
Monetary Authority ³	Assets	-3,116	-1,678	-1,462	-298	-331	413	107	-76	457
	Liabilities	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Monetary Financial Institutions⁴	Assets	16,486	-33,736	-59,065	-14,694	-30,884	70,907	-71,854	36,994	15,006
	Liabilities	-12,528	43,489	-37,661	-6,880	4,290	83,740	-27,258	-14,886	15,657
Other Sectors⁵	Assets	332,875	-6,530	13,612	1,546	-13,980	-7,708	61,388	58,101	73,555
	Liabilities	376,105	62,413	28,610	18,471	-592	15,924	42,178	28,554	27,849
of which:
Other Financial Intermediaries	Assets	332,993	-6,626	*	1,539	-13,989	*	61,395	58,110	*
	Liabilities	353,601	58,752	29,559	18,814	1,300	9,079	42,317	26,269	28,460
Non-Financial Companies⁶	Assets	-118	96	*	7	9	*	-7	-9	*
	Liabilities	22,504	3,661	-949	-343	-1,892	6,845	-139	2,285	-611

Other investment	Assets	21,389	87,640	101,839	-22,700	95,223	-86,722	25,892	-23,738	-8,543
	Liabilities	365	-68,296	61,505	-34,595	17,790	-112,996	-3,304	60,048	1,147

General Government	Assets	-654	-203	-474	-70	-28	369	-427	4	1,359
	Liabilities	1,830	16	106	-175	62	23	*	*	0
Monetary Authority ³	Assets	36,925	17,605	3,787	13,792	-5,334	5,360	-12,634	3,638	61
	Liabilities	5,296	2,232	233	1,139	385	475	*	*	701
Monetary Financial Institutions⁴	Assets	-79,291	97,492	70,235	-60	67,454	-40,137	71,110	-35,846	2,119
	Liabilities	-51,021	25,025	42,746	-6,092	27,136	-38,765	11,712	17,452	-1,589
Other Sectors⁵	Assets	64,413	-27,254	28,291	-36,363	33,131	-52,313	-32,156	8,467	-12,082
	Liabilities	44,259	-95,570	18,420	-29,467	-9,794	-74,729	-15,306	42,432	2,036
of which:
Other Financial Intermediaries	Assets	66,606	-18,870	37,695	-31,845	23,108	-47,828	-24,182	-1,893	-19,261
	Liabilities	33,540	-95,763	25,204	-30,162	-16,284	-74,521	-6,639	36,182	-3,122
Non-Financial Companies⁶	Assets	-2,193	-8,384	-9,404	-4,518	10,023	-4,485	-7,974	10,360	7,179
	Liabilities	10,719	193	-6,784	695	6,490	-208	-8,667	6,250	5,158

Reserve Assets		4,980	485	-129	33	603	-22	11	-24	-529

Balance on Financial Account		57,155	51,354	17,370	11,677	8,660	13,647	9,759	1,696	18,826
Net errors and omissions		-3,825	-2,067	516	-1,957	-37	-589	-3,680	-8,121	192
¹Includes transactions which cannot be shown due to confidentiality constraints.
²Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.
³Central Bank of Ireland.
⁴Covering licensed credit institutions and money market funds.
⁵Other sectors includes financial corporations other than the Monetary Authority and Monetary Financial Institutions, non-financial service and manufacturing companies and other industrial enterprises as well as (implicitly) households (see Background Notes). The gross liabilities to non-residents of financial corporations covered in other sectors tend to be very significant.
⁶Including households.
⁷See footnote 1 on Table 1.4.

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Table 1.6 Current and Capital Accounts showing geographical detail

Table 1.6 Current and Capital Accounts showing geographical¹ detail										€ million
		2021	2022	2022				2023
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3

Current Account - Total	Inflows	713,055	855,283	191,626	210,358	216,903	236,396	220,694	228,520	229,846
	Outflows	653,525	800,694	175,584	196,553	207,305	221,252	207,122	212,690	209,071

Merchandise²	Exports	280,741	354,429	78,365	85,341	94,971	95,752	88,977	76,365	71,871
	Imports	112,240	152,146	32,104	37,404	41,387	41,251	32,984	37,885	34,455
EMU	Exports	92,461	124,771	24,386	31,574	33,078	35,733	33,239	25,017	22,025
	Imports	38,874	51,940	10,408	12,086	12,948	16,498	13,878	16,237	13,992
Non-EMU	Exports	188,280	229,658	53,979	53,766	61,893	60,020	55,739	51,348	49,845
	Imports	73,366	100,207	21,697	25,318	28,439	24,753	19,106	21,649	20,463
EU	Exports	100,573	134,378	26,568	33,619	35,722	38,469	35,546	27,098	24,124
	Imports	42,996	57,012	11,580	13,371	14,288	17,773	15,204	17,557	15,220
Non-EU	Exports	180,168	220,050	51,797	51,722	59,248	57,283	53,432	49,267	47,747
	Imports	69,245	95,133	20,525	24,032	27,099	23,477	17,780	20,328	19,235

Services	Exports	299,781	339,622	78,462	83,185	86,488	91,487	83,194	90,727	92,652
	Imports	294,332	339,857	71,495	81,940	88,506	97,916	84,019	83,323	84,056
EMU	Exports	78,009	89,013	19,696	21,763	23,185	24,369	23,226	26,035	25,916
	Imports	40,607	57,130	9,618	14,268	15,796	17,448	11,161	14,061	12,261
Non-EMU	Exports	221,772	250,610	58,766	61,422	63,303	67,119	59,967	64,691	66,735
	Imports	253,724	282,729	61,878	67,673	72,710	80,468	72,858	69,261	71,795
EU	Exports	95,227	108,881	24,099	26,646	28,121	30,015	27,928	31,105	31,227
	Imports	44,361	61,830	10,659	15,467	16,999	18,705	12,412	15,295	13,539
Non-EU	Exports	204,555	230,742	54,363	56,540	58,367	61,472	55,266	59,622	61,425
	Imports	249,971	278,027	60,836	66,473	71,507	79,211	71,607	68,028	70,516

Primary Income	Inflows	126,049	153,352	32,910	39,968	33,232	47,242	46,355	59,255	62,606
	Outflows	236,058	296,118	68,915	74,152	74,055	78,996	86,762	88,123	86,786
EMU	Inflows	42,843	48,514	11,487	11,637	11,450	13,940	14,091	18,730	17,864
	Outflows	64,216	64,268	14,832	16,849	16,892	15,695	17,789	22,561	22,283
Non-EMU	Inflows	83,207	104,837	21,423	28,330	21,782	33,302	32,264	40,525	44,742
	Outflows	171,844	231,849	54,083	57,302	57,163	63,301	68,973	65,562	64,503
EU	Inflows	46,486	52,810	12,407	12,753	12,556	15,094	15,366	20,336	19,385
	Outflows	67,025	67,446	15,747	17,784	17,551	16,364	18,846	23,683	23,140
Non-EU	Inflows	79,564	100,542	20,503	27,215	20,677	32,147	30,989	38,919	43,221
	Outflows	169,034	228,671	53,168	56,368	56,504	62,631	67,916	64,440	63,645

Secondary Income	Inflows	6,483	7,879	1,889	1,865	2,211	1,914	2,167	2,174	2,718
	Outflows	10,892	12,574	3,070	3,057	3,357	3,090	3,357	3,359	3,775
EMU	Inflows	3,323	4,311	1,143	867	1,165	1,136	1,238	1,289	1,692
	Outflows	3,966	4,876	1,276	1,035	1,323	1,242	1,396	1,449	1,845
Non-EMU	Inflows	3,162	3,567	746	997	1,046	778	929	885	1,026
	Outflows	6,926	7,698	1,794	2,022	2,035	1,847	1,961	1,909	1,930
EU	Inflows	3,810	4,604	1,198	968	1,222	1,216	1,289	1,356	1,903
	Outflows	7,636	8,496	2,163	1,946	2,202	2,185	2,333	2,351	2,743
Non-EU	Inflows	2,675	3,274	691	896	989	698	878	818	814
	Outflows	3,256	4,078	907	1,111	1,155	905	1,024	1,008	1,033

Balance on Current Account		59,532	54,589	16,042	13,805	9,598	15,144	13,572	15,831	20,775

Balance on Capital Account		1,448	-1,168	812	-171	-901	-908	-133	-6,014	-2,141
¹The term ‘EMU’ means the area represented by the 19 Member States participating in Monetary Union since the enlargement of the Euro area on 1 January 2015 to include Lithuania (EMU-19). For years 2018 and 2019, the term ‘EU’ relates to transactions between residents of Ireland and other residents of the EU-28 area. From Q12020, the term ‘EU’ relates to transactions between residents of Ireland and other residents of the EU-27 area, which excludes the United Kingdom following their withdrawal from the European Union on 1 February 2020.
²Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.

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Table 1.7 Financial Account showing geographical detail

Table 1.7 Financial Account¹ showing geographical² detail										€ million
		2021	2022	2022				2023
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3

Direct Investment	Abroad	47,471	8,922	8,148	-4,516	-14,735	20,025	10,567	-36,940	7,112
	In Ireland	-3,325	-23,796	-7,249	-28,786	7,526	4,713	2,020	-40,785	23,650

EMU	Abroad	31,859	23,150	4,223	9,370	1,871	7,686	3,493	11,879	4,561
	In Ireland	-18,843	26,739	6,635	-753	2,878	17,979	-948	-30,938	-2,787
Non-EMU	Abroad	15,608	-14,229	3,924	-13,887	-16,605	12,339	7,075	-48,820	2,550
	In Ireland	15,517	-50,537	-13,885	-28,032	4,649	-13,269	2,968	-9,847	26,437
EU	Abroad	33,099	19,972	4,398	9,021	2,808	3,745	3,921	12,177	4,280
	In Ireland	-18,069	26,476	6,913	-967	2,567	17,963	-3,256	-30,669	-1,910
Non-EU	Abroad	14,370	-11,053	3,748	-13,538	-17,543	16,280	6,646	-49,118	2,831
	In Ireland	14,745	-50,272	-14,162	-27,818	4,959	-13,251	5,275	-10,118	25,560

Portfolio Investment	Assets	345,077	-41,525	-46,916	-12,879	-45,408	63,678	-10,332	95,019	88,835
	Liabilities	364,722	96,255	-8,685	11,640	1,705	91,595	17,664	13,358	43,251

EMU	Assets	53,265	15,370	-5,391	-2,073	-14,682	37,516	12,427	4,025	21,826
	Liabilities	141,398	14,161	-34,308	2,542	10,152	35,775	6,904	19,859	5,913
Non-EMU	Assets	291,814	-56,895	-41,525	-10,806	-30,726	26,162	-22,760	90,995	67,009
	Liabilities	223,325	82,096	25,624	9,098	-8,447	55,821	10,761	-6,500	37,339
EU	Assets	65,662	16,238	-8,723	-223	-14,401	39,585	12,776	5,194	24,777
	Liabilities	147,815	8,858	-36,702	2,526	8,317	34,717	8,019	16,809	2,475
Non-EU	Assets	279,415	-57,762	-38,192	-12,656	-31,007	24,093	-23,108	89,825	64,058
	Liabilities	216,908	87,398	28,017	9,114	-6,612	56,879	9,645	-3,451	40,776

Other Investment³	Assets	21,389	87,640	101,839	-22,700	95,223	-86,722	25,892	-23,738	-8,543
	Liabilities	365	-68,296	61,505	-34,595	17,790	-112,996	-3,304	60,048	1,147

EMU	Assets	41,020	31,971	26,949	17,269	18,173	-30,420	23,252	-9,583	-5,484
	Liabilities	5,852	-10,008	4,903	9,396	-610	-23,697	4,945	3,179	3,222
Non-EMU	Assets	-19,631	55,669	74,890	-39,969	77,050	-56,302	2,640	-14,155	-3,060
	Liabilities	-5,487	-58,286	56,603	-43,991	18,401	-89,299	-8,249	56,869	-2,076
EU	Assets	40,492	37,691	30,027	15,063	22,883	-30,282	24,411	-8,286	-6,475
	Liabilities	11,444	-8,138	8,293	5,714	3,301	-25,446	5,707	6,193	4,809
Non-EU	Assets	-19,102	49,946	71,811	-37,764	72,339	-56,440	1,482	-15,452	-2,068
	Liabilities	-11,079	-60,157	53,212	-40,309	14,489	-87,549	-9,012	53,855	-3,662

Reserve Assets		4,980	485	-129	33	603	-22	11	-24	-529

Balance on Financial Account		57,155	51,354	17,370	11,677	8,660	13,647	9,759	1,696	18,826

Net errors and omissions		-3,825	-2,067	516	-1,957	-37	-589	-3,680	-8,121	192
¹See footnote 1 on Table 1.4.
²The term ‘EMU’ means the area represented by the 19 Member States participating in Monetary Union since the enlargement of the Euro area on 1 January 2015 to include Lithuania (EMU-19). For years 2018 and 2019, the term ‘EU’ relates to transactions between residents of Ireland and other residents of the EU-28 area. From Q12020, the term ‘EU’ relates to transactions between residents of Ireland and other residents of the EU-27 area, which excludes the United Kingdom following their withdrawal from the European Union on 1 February 2020.
³Includes financial derivatives; in the case of liabilities this category also includes life insurance liabilities to non-residents. Occasionally includes large capital transactions which cannot be shown in the Capital Account Balance due to confidentiality constraints.

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International Accounts Q3 2023

Balance of International Payments

Balance of International Payments

Current account balance of €20.8bn in Quarter 3 2023

Balance of Payments Current Account

Current account (see Table 1.3)

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

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