Ireland’s Balance of Payments showed a current account surplus of €20.8bn in Quarter 3 (Q3) 2023.
Merchandise exports were €71.9bn in Q3 2023, a decrease of €23.1bn compared with Q3 2022. Merchandise imports were €34.5bn in Q3 2023, down €6.9bn compared with the same period in 2022.
Service exports at €92.7bn, grew by €6.2bn compared with Q3 2022. Service imports at €83.3bn were up €1.4bn over the same period in 2022.
The trade balance, which is all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, at €46bn, fell by €5.6bn in Q3 2023 over the same period in 2022.
The overall income balance for Q3 2023 was -€25.2bn an increase of €16.7bn compared with the same period in 2022.
Direct investment into Ireland rose by €23.7bn in Q3 2023 while direct investment abroad increased by €7.1bn in the quarter.
The stock of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) assets held in Ireland by foreign investors grew by €40.8bn in Q3 2023 to €1,262.5bn. FDI assets held abroad by Irish investors grew by €26.7bn in the quarter to €1,166.9bn.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (01 December 2023) published the International Accounts results for Quarter 3 (Q3) 2023.
Commenting on the release, Jennifer Banim, Assistant Director General with responsibility for Economic Statistics said:
“In the International Accounts, the Current Account of the Balance of Payments recorded a surplus of €20.8bn in flows with the rest of the world in Q3 2023, an improvement of €11.2bn compared with the surplus of €9.6bn in Q3 2022. The Merchandise balance dis-improved by €16.2bn in Q3 2023 compared with the same quarter in 2022 while the Services balance improved by €10.6bn. Net outflows of multinational profits were €20.9bn in the quarter, a fall of €15.6bn on Q3 2022 levels.”
For more commentary see Press Statement.