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International Investment Position

International Investment Position

Net IIP liability of €413 billion at end-September 2024

Online ISSN: 2565-6384
CSO statistical publication, , 11am
Table 5.1 International Investment Position€ billion
 30 June 2024 30 September 2024
 AssetsLiabilitiesNET AssetsLiabilitiesNET
General Government28.7123.2-94.5 18.7113.4-94.7
Monetary Authority125.335.190.1 123.335.587.8
Monetary Financial Institutions1,283.71,166.7117.1 1,354.31,221.4132.9
Other Financial Intermediaries5,624.45,488.7135.7 5,789.55,649.3140.1
Non-Financial Companies1,219.91,925.9-705.9 1,117.31,796.6-679.3
Total 8,282.18,739.6-457.5 8,403.18,816.3-413.2

At 30th September 2024, Ireland's quarterly international investment position ((IIP) results show overall stocks of foreign financial assets of €8,403bn - an increase of €121bn on the end-June 2024 level, while the corresponding stocks of foreign financial liabilities increased by €77bn to €8,816 over the quarter. Irish residents had an overall net foreign liability of €413bn at end-September 2024, a decrease of €44bn in the net foreign liability level at end-June 2024 - see Table 5.2.

X-axis labelNet IIP %GDP
Q42022-110
Q12023-102
Q22023-104
Q32023-104
Q42023-101
Q12024-93
Q22024-90
Q32024-80

Some points of note in the Quarter 3 2024 IIP are:

  • Direct Investment Abroad decreased by €108bn to €1179bn.
  • Equity capital (including reinvested earnings) decreased €92.3bn while other capital decreased €15.4bn – see Table 5.5.
  • Foreign Assets of Other Financial Intermediaries increased by €165bn. With foreign liabilities increasing by €161bn, the resulting net increased to €140bn - see Table 5.3.
  • Foreign Assets of the Monetary Authority decreased by €1.9bn while foreign liabilities increased by €0.3bn. The resulting net decreased to €88bn - see Table 5.3.
X-axis labelDirect InvestmentPortfolio InvestmentOther InvestmentReserve AssetsNet IIP
Q42022-139.2-772.2324.412.2-574.8
Q12023-81.9-843.1375.312.2-537.5
Q22023-38.6-806.2286.812-545.9
Q32023-93.1-755.4295.811.7-541.1
Q42023-51.6-794.4317.411.7-517
Q1202461.5-832.3286.211.8-472.9
Q22024136.2-914.4308.811.9-457.5
Q32024118.4-886.8343.811.5-413.2

Figure 5.2 shows the net IIP over time along with the contribution of each instrument type to it.

  • Net Portfolio Investment rose €28bn to -€887bn.
  • Net Other Investment rose €35bn to €344bn.
  • Reserve Assets shrank €0.4bn to €11.5bn.
X-axis labelGeneral GovernmentMonetary Financial InstitutionsOther Financial IntermediariesNon-Financial Companies
31 Dec 202379158411371943
31 Mar 202479261012022096
30 Jun 202479363712312203
30 Sep 202482967812692284

For Portfolio Investment assets, equity and debt securities, the sector of the non-resident issuer is collected. Analysing this data shows that Irish residents hold debt as follows:

  • €829bn issued by foreign Governments
  • €678bn issued by foreign Monetary Financial Institutions (including Money Market Investment Funds)
  • €1269bn issued by foreign Other Financial Intermediaries (including Non-Money Market Investment Funds)
  • €2284bn issued by foreign Non-Financial Companies
X-axis labelDirect InvestmentOther SectorsMonetary Financial InstitutionsMonetary AuthorityGeneral Government
Q42023545182630735126
Q12024613187533335124
Q22024559195133735123
Q32024506197533735113

Gross External Debt stands at €3 trillion at end-September 2024

At 30th September 2024, the gross external debt of all resident sectors (i.e. general government, the monetary authority, financial and non-financial corporations and households) amounted to €2,966bn. This represents a decrease of €39bn in the stock of financial liabilities to non-residents (other than those arising from issues of Irish equities and derivatives contracts) compared to the level shown at 30th June 2024 (€3,005bn) - see Table 5.9.

Points of note are:

  • General government foreign borrowing fell by €10bn to €113bn at end-September 2024.
  • Liabilities of the Monetary Authority consisting entirely of short term loans and deposits increased €0.3bn to €35.5bn. These liabilities are to the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and include balances in the TARGET2 settlement system of the ESCB.
  • Debt liabilities of Monetary financial institutions (credit institutions and money market funds) rose €0.1bn to €336.7bn.
  • The liabilities of Other sectors at €1,975bn increased €23bn on the previous quarter.
  • This was made up of a fall in short-term debt of €10bn and a  rise in long-term debt of €34bn.
  • Direct investment liabilities decreased by €54bn to €506bn in the quarter.
  • The Net External Debt position was €1,951bn at end-September 2024, i.e. assets exceeded liabilities - see Table 5.10.

Gross external debt represents the stock of Ireland's liabilities to non-residents other than equity and financial derivatives.

Table 5.2 International Investment Position (IIP) classified by Financial Instrument

Table 5.3 International Investment Position (IIP) classified by Institutional Sector

Table 5.4 International Investment Position (IIP) - IFSC and non-IFSC activity by Institutional Sector

Table 5.5 International Investment Position (IIP) - Detailed Data by Foreign Assets

Table 5.6 International Investment Position (IIP) - Detailed Data by Foreign Liabilities

Table 5.7 International Investment Position (IIP) showing IFSC and non-IFSC activity

Table 5.8 International Investment Position (IIP) - 30th September 2024 - Reconciliation of IIP and BOP Flows

Table 5.9 Gross External Debt

Table 5.10 - Debt Instrument Financial Assets