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International Accounts Q4 2020

Balance of International Payments

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Current account balance of €7.1bn in Quarter 4 2020

Table 1.1 Balance of International Payments				€ million
	Merchandise Balance	Services and Income Balance	Current Account Balance	Current Account Balance as % of GDP
Q4 2019	29,197	-57,761	-28,564	-30.7
Q4 2020	34,159	-27,046	7,113	7.5

Q1-Q4 2019	119,125	-159,529	-40,404	-11.3
Q1-Q4 2020	138,762	-121,839	16,924	4.6

Open in Excel: International Accounts Q4 2020 Table 1.1 (XLS 10KB)

The Balance of Payments current account, a measure of Ireland’s economic flows with the rest of the world, showed a surplus of €7.1bn in the fourth quarter of 2020. Quarter on quarter shows a marked increase in both Computer services exports and Royalty imports.

	Current Account
Q3 2018	12.9536795807672
Q4 2018	-15.8463385447228
Q1 2019	10.7772509840293
Q2 2019	-38.3864861688368
Q3 2019	12.452669962882
Q4 2019	-30.7250927111529
Q1 2020	-15.9650920719409
Q2 2020	14.1043746942574
Q3 2020	12.9415629599027
Q4 2020	7.52991668857651

	Merchandise	Services	Primary Income	Secondary Income	Balance on Current Account
Q3 2018	27.258	1.279	-16.675	-0.846	11.016
Q4 2018	25.418	-18.214	-19.753	-0.808	-13.357
Q1 2019	30.224	-0.079	-19.668	-1.324	9.153
Q2 2019	28.1	-38.931	-21.111	-0.66	-32.602
Q3 2019	31.604	0.996	-20.096	-0.895	11.609
Q4 2019	29.197	-37.317	-19.751	-0.693	-28.564
Q1 2020	34.409	-28.156	-19.728	-1.081	-14.557
Q2 2020	33.374	-0.788	-19.916	-1.008	11.663
Q3 2020	36.82	5.57	-28.935	-0.751	12.705
Q4 2020	34.159	-5.561	-20.417	-1.068	7.113

Other points of note in the Quarter 4 2020 results are:

Current account (see Table 1.3)

Merchandise exports were €62,101m in the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of €2,953m compared with the fourth quarter of 2019. Merchandise imports were €27,942m in the fourth quarter of 2020, a decrease of €2,009m over the same period in 2019.
Service exports at €71,689m increased by €9,090m compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, mainly due to higher Computer services exports (which increased by €6,691m).
Service imports at €77,250m were down €22,667m over the same period in 2019, mainly due to lower R&D related IP imports.
Ireland’s trade balance at €28,598m, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, increased by €36,719m in the fourth quarter of 2020 over the same period in 2019.
Investment income earned abroad at €21,377m, decreased by €3,918m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €41,970m decreased by €3,434m. The overall income balance for the quarter at -€21,485m decreased by €1,041m compared with the same period in 2019.

	Direct Investment	Portfolio Investment	Other Investment	Reserve Assets	Balance on Financial Account
Q3 2018	15.206	8.493	-15.738	0.209	8.17
Q4 2018	-21.605	25.783	-62.669	0.578	-57.913
Q1 2019	6.121	10.265	-5.096	0.002	11.291
Q2 2019	-56.32	-9.936	9.38	0.121	-56.754
Q3 2019	-5.398	-6.617	16.685	0.125	4.795
Q4 2019	-31.71	35.461	-29.574	0.181	-25.641
Q1 2020	-14.702	-83.137	73.562	0.138	-24.138
Q2 2020	-67.348	82.309	-17.006	0.019	-2.027
Q3 2020	3.497	10.736	-11.888	0.695	3.041
Q4 2020	5.974	21.36	-15.03	0.396	12.7

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

Direct investment in Ireland decreased by €19,869m in the fourth quarter of 2020. This was due to increased reinvested earnings of €16,866m and other capital of €1,695m which were offset by decreased equity investment of €38,430m. Direct investment abroad decreased by €13,895m in the quarter, mainly due to decreased equity investment €8,212m and other capital investment abroad of €8,796m.
Portfolio investment in foreign assets increased by €145,097m in the quarter. Investment in foreign equity increased by €55,953m while investment in foreign debt instruments increased by €89,145m. Portfolio investment in Ireland increased by €123,737m, mainly due to increased purchase of Irish equity of €104,946m and Irish debt of €18,791m.
Other investment assets and liabilities increased by €37,373m and €52,403m respectively in the fourth quarter of 2020.

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
2002	Year	36,982	-13,619	-21,910	-1,116	-36,645	337	588	-19,444	37,979	-19,425	-343	-1,233	-2,158
2003	Year	32,954	-10,903	-20,035	-1,303	-32,241	713	445	-15,270	39,977	-22,751	-1,770	186	-972
2004	Year	34,588	-12,141	-21,345	-1,255	-34,741	-153	355	23,095	-14,287	-12,170	-1,177	-4,539	-4,741
2005	Year	32,184	-13,655	-22,786	-1,769	-38,210	-6,026	340	37,660	-52,698	15,364	-1,472	-1,147	4,539
2006	Year	27,194	-12,313	-22,723	-2,063	-37,099	-9,905	299	15,841	-8,135	-16,635	-87	-9,016	590
2007	Year	28,698	-12,384	-26,630	-2,510	-41,524	-12,826	115	-1,621	7,283	-20,086	12	-14,413	-1,702
2008	Year	32,622	-16,468	-25,141	-2,729	-44,339	-11,716	119	23,288	45,749	-85,932	78	-16,817	-5,220
2009	Year	38,752	-15,823	-27,885	-2,948	-46,656	-7,904	14	-245	-22,626	19,433	-79	-3,517	4,373
2010	Year	41,288	-13,421	-27,178	-2,701	-43,300	-2,012	91	-16,318	-85,965	90,883	-5	-11,404	-9,484
2011	Year	41,257	-9,096	-32,312	-2,660	-44,067	-2,810	234	-18,698	-26,908	31,086	-329	-14,849	-12,272
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	109,132	-16,344	-69,449	-3,721	-89,514	19,617	-52,019	21,775	37,600	-92,307	770	-32,163	240
2019	Year	119,125	-75,331	-80,626	-3,572	-159,529	-40,404	-35,139	-87,307	29,173	-8,605	429	-66,309	9,235
2020	Year	138,762	-28,935	-88,996	-3,908	-121,839	16,924	-18,124	-72,579	31,268	29,638	1,248	-10,424	-9,222

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	28,412	608	-16,866	-991	-17,249	11,163	-109	16,740	19,365	-33,684	-22	2,399	-8,655
	Quarter 2	28,044	-17	-16,155	-1,076	-17,248	10,795	59	11,434	-16,041	19,784	5	15,181	4,327
	Quarter 3	27,258	1,279	-16,675	-846	-16,242	11,016	63	15,206	8,493	-15,738	209	8,170	-2,909
	Quarter 4	25,418	-18,214	-19,753	-808	-38,775	-13,357	-52,032	-21,605	25,783	-62,669	578	-57,913	7,477
2019	Quarter 1	30,224	-79	-19,668	-1,324	-21,071	9,153	-6,771	6,121	10,265	-5,096	2	11,291	8,910
	Quarter 2	28,100	-38,931	-21,111	-660	-60,702	-32,602	-17,302	-56,320	-9,936	9,380	121	-56,754	-6,850
	Quarter 3	31,604	996	-20,096	-895	-19,995	11,609	-5,141	-5,398	-6,617	16,685	125	4,795	-1,673
	Quarter 4	29,197	-37,317	-19,751	-693	-57,761	-28,564	-5,925	-31,710	35,461	-29,574	181	-25,641	8,848
2020	Quarter 1	34,409	-28,156	-19,728	-1,081	-48,965	-14,557	-4,820	-14,702	-83,137	73,562	138	-24,138	-4,760
	Quarter 2	33,374	-788	-19,916	-1,008	-21,712	11,663	-7,903	-67,348	82,309	-17,006	19	-2,027	-5,787
	Quarter 3	36,820	5,570	-28,935	-751	-24,116	12,705	-1,918	3,497	10,736	-11,888	695	3,041	-7,746
	Quarter 4	34,159	-5,561	-20,417	-1,068	-27,046	7,113	-3,483	5,974	21,360	-15,030	396	12,700	9,071
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 Q4 2020 Table 1.2 (XLS 16KB)

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Table 1.3 Current and Capital Accounts

Table 1.3 Current and Capital Accounts											€ million
		2019	2020	2019				2020
Item				Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4
Current Account
Merchandise¹	Exports	227,497	237,813	56,499	54,444	57,406	59,148	59,452	55,997	60,263	62,101
	Imports	108,372	99,050	26,275	26,344	25,802	29,951	25,043	22,622	23,443	27,942

International trade	Exports	152,679	159,992	37,559	38,511	37,630	38,979	42,339	38,322	40,737	38,594
	Imports	87,702	83,700	21,203	21,364	21,093	24,042	21,183	18,409	20,025	24,083
Goods for processing	Exports	68,468	71,820	16,911	13,966	18,678	18,913	14,596	15,924	18,276	23,024
	Imports	16,769	13,357	4,015	4,145	3,505	5,104	3,104	3,884	2,936	3,433
Other conceptual adjustments	Exports	-7,128	-7,538	-599	-1,059	-2,477	-2,993	-761	-1,220	-1,884	-3,673
	Imports	3,900	1,992	1,056	835	1,204	805	755	329	482	426
Merchanting (net export)	Exports	13,477	13,538	2,627	3,026	3,575	4,249	3,277	2,971	3,134	4,156

Services	Exports	221,370	229,996	48,280	54,768	55,723	62,599	52,712	51,737	53,858	71,689
	Imports	296,702	258,931	48,359	93,699	54,727	99,917	80,868	52,525	48,288	77,250
Repairs and Processing	Exports	2,477	2,736	597	621	588	671	641	745	616	734
	Imports	6,603	7,656	1,637	1,405	1,479	2,082	1,601	1,944	1,654	2,457
Transport	Exports	8,041	2,580	1,151	2,189	2,961	1,740	1,085	299	853	343
	Imports	3,281	2,943	792	801	795	893	748	695	704	796
Tourism and Travel ²	Exports	5,739	1,664	952	1,621	1,941	1,225	769	168	477	250
	Imports	7,288	2,081	1,454	1,851	2,418	1,565	1,227	66	495	293
Insurance	Exports	9,905	10,797	2,361	2,418	2,440	2,686	2,656	2,540	2,607	2,994
	Imports	8,141	8,878	2,178	1,993	2,097	1,873	2,361	2,178	1,970	2,369
Financial services	Exports	16,867	17,221	4,053	4,067	4,198	4,549	3,667	4,065	4,346	5,143
	Imports	15,501	16,496	3,669	3,700	3,845	4,287	3,633	3,942	4,007	4,914
Royalties/Licences	Exports	10,614	10,847	2,105	2,654	2,688	3,167	1,985	2,251	2,388	4,223
	Imports	84,260	83,659	18,689	20,432	21,254	23,885	18,727	18,058	16,020	30,854
of which: Pharmaceutical products and preparations	Exports	143	112	38	39	33	33	13	45	16	38
	Imports	20,888	14,133	4,323	5,846	5,264	5,455	2,884	3,462	2,869	4,918
Information and communication	Exports	4,788	6,215	1,052	1,252	1,238	1,246	1,036	1,056	1,115	3,008
	Imports	50,650	57,181	11,104	11,670	*	*	*	*	*	*
Communications	Exports	336	260	91	90	82	73	71	63	63	63
	Imports	456	256	128	113	116	99	59	70	63	64
Computer services³	Exports	117,099	132,199	26,085	28,730	28,433	33,851	30,441	29,958	31,258	40,542
	Imports	4,540	5,191	1,067	1,057	1,197	1,219	1,199	1,340	1,274	1,378
Business services	Exports	43,792	42,197	10,135	10,653	10,739	12,265	10,317	9,247	8,974	13,659
	Imports	165,812	130,889	18,544	62,144	21,321	63,803	51,097	24,020	21,870	33,902
Research and development	Exports	5,041	8,708	1,077	1,067	1,159	1,738	1,336	991	1,027	5,354
	Imports	105,081	64,382	4,687	47,665	7,001	45,728	*	8,360	6,024	*
of which: IP related	Exports	622	4,262	85	13	*	*	*	7	12	*
	Imports	84,059	40,397	466	*	1,202	*	*	1,786	207	*
Operational leasing	Exports	16,400	14,558	3,942	4,122	4,121	4,215	4,169	3,770	3,364	3,255
	Imports	967	844	241	243	245	238	208	206	212	218
Misc. business services⁴	Exports	22,351	18,933	5,115	5,464	5,460	6,312	4,813	4,486	4,584	5,050
	Imports	59,764	65,665	13,616	14,236	14,075	17,837	*	15,455	15,635	*
Other services n.e.s.	Exports	6,501	9,492	751	1,725	1,654	2,371	1,078	2,401	2,274	3,739
	Imports	819	881	200	205	204	210	216	212	230	223

Merchandise and Services - Total	Exports	448,867	467,809	104,779	109,212	113,129	121,747	112,164	107,734	114,121	133,790
	Imports	405,073	357,981	74,634	120,043	80,528	129,868	105,911	75,147	71,731	105,192

Trade Balance	Net	43,793	109,827	30,145	-10,831	32,600	-8,121	6,252	32,586	42,391	28,598

Primary Income	Inflows	108,801	93,406	26,143	28,098	28,623	25,937	26,453	22,535	22,633	21,785
	Outflows	189,428	182,402	45,811	49,209	48,720	45,688	46,181	42,451	51,568	42,202
Compensation of Employees	Inflows	524	242	131	131	131	131	131	35	38	38
	Outflows	674	536	159	167	172	176	180	113	114	129
Investment Income	Inflows	106,686	91,653	25,660	27,617	28,114	25,295	25,945	22,136	22,195	21,377
	Outflows	188,260	181,380	45,554	48,839	48,463	45,404	45,910	42,100	51,400	41,970
Direct investment income	Inflows	20,710	17,036	5,208	4,776	5,897	4,829	6,154	2,738	4,082	4,062
	Outflows	91,785	97,442	22,870	22,605	24,045	22,265	23,505	21,015	30,560	22,362

of which: Manufacturing	Outflows	51,893	61,521	14,469	10,064	14,850	12,510	14,925	13,383	19,040	14,173
Information and communication	Outflows	16,534	21,992	3,628	6,168	2,885	3,853	4,313	4,355	8,152	5,172

Income on equity	Inflows	17,032	15,431	4,152	3,681	5,022	4,177	5,595	2,299	3,782	3,755
	Outflows	82,325	88,139	20,704	20,348	21,511	19,762	21,245	18,594	28,142	20,158
Dividends & distributed	Inflows	1,289	832	151	224	758	156	90	42	58	642
branch profits	Outflows	19,481	18,751	10,543	1,582	2,847	4,509	11,401	1,545	2,514	3,291
Reinvested earnings	Inflows	15,742	14,600	4,001	3,457	4,264	4,020	5,506	2,257	3,724	3,113
	Outflows	62,845	69,387	10,162	18,766	18,664	15,253	9,844	17,049	25,628	16,866
Income on debt	Inflows	3,678	1,605	1,056	1,095	875	652	559	439	300	307
	Outflows	9,460	9,305	2,166	2,257	2,534	2,503	2,260	2,421	2,419	2,205
Portfolio investment income	Inflows	65,041	57,941	15,476	17,459	16,563	15,543	15,202	14,966	14,292	13,481
	Outflows	80,694	70,603	18,342	22,558	20,564	19,230	19,123	17,560	17,583	16,337
Income on equity	Inflows	21,116	17,610	4,894	6,768	5,356	4,098	4,254	4,940	4,549	3,867
	Outflows	63,532	54,134	14,178	18,267	16,174	14,913	14,852	13,433	13,529	12,320
Income on debt	Inflows	43,926	40,330	10,583	10,691	11,207	11,445	10,947	10,026	9,743	9,614
	Outflows	17,162	16,470	4,163	4,292	4,390	4,317	4,271	4,127	4,055	4,017
Other investment income	Inflows	20,935	16,676	4,976	5,382	5,654	4,923	4,589	4,431	3,821	3,835
	Outflows	15,782	13,334	4,343	3,676	3,854	3,909	3,281	3,525	3,257	3,271
Other primary income	Inflows	1,588	1,511	351	349	378	510	377	364	400	370
	Outflows	493	485	97	203	85	108	91	237	54	103

Secondary Income	Inflows	5,003	5,683	1,052	1,039	1,233	1,679	1,472	1,369	1,399	1,443
	Outflows	8,573	9,590	2,375	1,699	2,128	2,371	2,553	2,377	2,150	2,510

Income Balance	Net	-84,198	-92,904	-20,992	-21,771	-20,991	-20,444	-20,809	-20,924	-29,686	-21,485

Current Account - Total	Inflows	562,670	566,896	131,973	138,349	142,985	149,363	140,088	131,637	138,153	157,018
	Outflows	603,074	549,972	122,820	170,951	131,376	177,927	154,645	119,975	125,448	149,904

Current Account Balance	Net	-40,404	16,924	9,153	-32,602	11,609	-28,564	-14,557	11,663	12,705	7,113

Capital Account Balance	Net	-35,139	-18,124	-6,771	-17,302	-5,141	-5,925	-4,820	-7,903	-1,918	-3,483

Memorandum Item:
Government Income	Inflows	101	61	20	41	20	20	14	16	15	16
	Outflows	3,358	2,293	887	870	845	756	638	597	515	543
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
		2019	2020	2019				2020
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4

Direct Investment	Abroad	-14,858	-43,315	8,131	-60,549	27,796	9,764	-10,626	-2,920	-15,874	-13,895
	In Ireland	72,448	29,263	2,010	-4,229	33,194	41,473	4,076	64,428	-19,372	-19,869

Equity	Abroad	62,899	-9,093	37,055	2,994	-2,816	25,666	9,968	1,359	-12,208	-8,212
	In Ireland	-13,157	20,348	37,851	-41,017	-1,183	-8,808	7,516	59,092	-7,830	-38,430
Reinvested Earnings	Abroad	15,742	14,600	4,001	3,457	4,264	4,020	5,506	2,257	3,724	3,113
	In Ireland	62,845	69,387	10,162	18,766	18,664	15,253	9,844	17,049	25,628	16,866
Other Capital	Abroad	-93,500	-48,821	-32,926	-66,999	26,348	-19,923	-26,099	-6,536	-7,390	-8,796
	In Ireland	22,760	-60,471	-46,003	18,022	15,713	35,028	-13,284	-11,712	-37,170	1,695

Portfolio Investment	Assets	321,381	254,200	44,528	27,087	132,169	117,597	-113,863	168,713	54,253	145,097
	Liabilities	292,208	222,933	34,263	37,023	138,786	82,136	-30,726	86,405	43,517	123,737

Equity	Assets	85,500	97,897	15,527	5,901	18,991	45,081	-11,680	23,252	30,372	55,953
	Liabilities	220,620	157,953	24,361	21,262	100,511	74,486	-39,726	58,837	33,896	104,946
Debt Instruments	Assets	235,881	156,305	29,001	21,186	113,178	72,516	-102,182	145,461	23,881	89,145
	Liabilities	71,588	64,979	9,902	15,761	38,275	7,650	9,000	27,567	9,621	18,791
Bonds and notes	Assets	211,900	109,020	51,864	38,379	64,557	57,100	-36,985	43,638	37,743	64,624
	Liabilities	68,667	57,399	9,668	14,351	36,684	7,964	5,997	16,382	11,102	23,918
Money market instruments	Assets	23,980	47,285	-22,863	-17,194	48,621	15,416	-65,197	101,823	-13,862	24,521
	Liabilities	2,919	7,580	234	1,409	1,590	-314	3,003	11,185	-1,480	-5,128

Other Investment	Assets	114,860	181,706	54,657	27,488	56,690	-23,975	178,561	-57,388	23,160	37,373
	Liabilities	123,464	152,067	59,753	18,107	40,005	5,599	104,998	-40,381	35,047	52,403

Loans, currency and deposits	Assets	121,858	160,802	55,667	16,999	44,631	4,561	116,053	-36,644	28,744	52,649
	Liabilities	67,924	90,037	36,143	5,602	7,925	18,254	56,556	-14,561	15,083	32,959
Other²	Assets	-6,999	20,904	-1,010	10,488	12,059	-28,536	62,508	-20,744	-5,584	-15,276
	Liabilities	55,540	62,030	23,610	12,505	32,080	-12,655	48,442	-25,820	19,965	19,443

Reserve Assets		429	1,248	2	121	125	181	138	19	695	396

Monetary gold		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Special drawing rights		28	-7	10	8	-19	29	-3	45	-43	-6
Reserve position in the IMF		-7	-32	0	0	2	-9	4	-7	-22	-7
Foreign exchange		66	118	127	-102	82	-41	-148	-10	110	166
Other		343	1,169	-136	216	60	203	285	-9	650	243

Balance on Financial Account		-66,309	-10,424	11,291	-56,754	4,795	-25,641	-24,138	-2,027	3,041	12,700

Net errors and omissions		9,235	-9,222	8,910	-6,850	-1,673	8,848	-4,760	-5,787	-7,746	9,071
Memorandum Item:
Government financial	Assets	-1,895	-144	-1,871	-399	-251	626	-1,261	136	-163	1,144
transactions	Liabilities	283	-23	5,025	-874	51	-3,919	5,363	9,565	-2,986	-11,965
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.

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Table 1.5 Current, Capital and Financial Accounts showing IFSC and Non-IFSC activity

Table 1.5 Current, Capital and Financial Accounts showing IFSC¹ and Non–IFSC activity											€ million
		2019	2020	2019				2020
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4
Current Account - Total	Inflows	562,670	566,896	131,973	138,349	142,985	149,363	140,088	131,637	138,153	157,018
	Outflows	603,074	549,972	122,820	170,951	131,376	177,927	154,645	119,975	125,448	149,904

Merchandise²	Exports	227,497	237,813	56,499	54,444	57,406	59,148	59,452	55,997	60,263	62,101
	Imports	108,372	99,050	26,275	26,344	25,802	29,951	25,043	22,622	23,443	27,942

Services	Exports	221,370	229,996	48,280	54,768	55,723	62,599	52,712	51,737	53,858	71,689
	Imports	296,702	258,931	48,359	93,699	54,727	99,917	80,868	52,525	48,288	77,250

IFSC	Exports	46,430	46,386	11,117	11,483	11,553	12,277	11,685	11,308	11,162	12,231
	Imports	30,018	31,943	7,308	7,332	7,529	7,849	7,775	7,596	7,648	8,924
Non-IFSC	Exports	174,941	183,612	37,163	43,285	44,170	50,323	41,028	40,428	42,697	59,459
	Imports	266,683	226,989	41,051	86,367	47,198	92,067	73,094	44,929	40,640	68,326

Primary Income	Inflows	108,801	93,406	26,143	28,098	28,623	25,937	26,453	22,535	22,633	21,785
	Outflows	189,428	182,402	45,811	49,209	48,720	45,688	46,181	42,451	51,568	42,202

IFSC	Inflows	85,404	72,724	20,404	22,835	22,015	20,150	19,597	18,922	17,627	16,578
	Outflows	93,617	79,318	22,109	25,181	23,933	22,394	21,299	19,613	20,325	18,081
Non-IFSC	Inflows	23,397	20,683	5,738	5,263	6,609	5,787	6,856	3,613	5,006	5,208
	Outflows	95,811	103,083	23,702	24,028	24,787	23,294	24,882	22,837	31,243	24,121

Secondary Income	Inflows	5,003	5,683	1,052	1,039	1,233	1,679	1,472	1,369	1,399	1,443
	Outflows	8,573	9,590	2,375	1,699	2,128	2,371	2,553	2,377	2,150	2,510

IFSC³	Inflows	4,096	4,899	817	864	987	1,428	1,267	1,187	1,194	1,251
	Outflows	4,096	4,899	817	864	987	1,428	1,267	1,187	1,194	1,251
Non-IFSC	Inflows	906	784	235	175	246	250	205	182	205	192
	Outflows	4,477	4,691	1,558	835	1,141	943	1,286	1,190	956	1,259

Balance on Current Account		-40,404	16,924	9,153	-32,602	11,609	-28,564	-14,557	11,663	12,705	7,113

Balance on Capital Account		-35,139	-18,124	-6,771	-17,302	-5,141	-5,925	-4,820	-7,903	-1,918	-3,483

Financial Account⁴
Direct investment	Abroad	-14,858	-43,315	8,131	-60,549	27,796	9,764	-10,626	-2,920	-15,874	-13,895
	In Ireland	72,448	29,263	2,010	-4,229	33,194	41,473	4,076	64,428	-19,372	-19,869

IFSC	Abroad	1,511	-2,453	489	-896	-81	1,999	1,271	-1,849	-479	-1,396
	In Ireland	8,324	4,688	-22,039	1,594	10,867	17,902	-3,222	-289	5,865	2,334
Non-IFSC	Abroad	-16,369	-40,862	7,642	-59,652	27,877	7,764	-11,897	-1,071	-15,395	-12,499
	In Ireland	64,123	24,577	24,048	-5,823	22,327	23,571	7,298	64,718	-25,236	-22,203

Portfolio investment	Assets	321,381	254,200	44,528	27,087	132,169	117,597	-113,863	168,713	54,253	145,097
	Liabilities	292,208	222,933	34,263	37,023	138,786	82,136	-30,726	86,405	43,517	123,737

IFSC	Assets	316,693	254,414	43,645	27,093	129,436	116,519	-112,992	167,359	54,966	145,081
	Liabilities	291,085	276,352	32,512	42,104	139,293	77,176	-39,336	*	*	136,269
Non-IFSC	Assets	4,689	-214	883	-6	2,734	1,078	-871	1,354	-713	16
	Liabilities	1,122	-53,420	1,750	-5,081	-507	4,960	8,610	*	*	-12,533

Other investment⁵	Assets	114,860	181,706	54,657	27,488	56,690	-23,975	178,561	-57,388	23,160	37,373
	Liabilities	123,464	152,067	59,753	18,107	40,005	5,599	104,998	-40,381	35,047	52,403

IFSC	Assets	78,108	161,825	43,959	23,968	39,397	-29,216	179,708	-73,821	26,793	29,145
	Liabilities	123,693	141,485	66,554	17,373	30,891	8,875	110,700	-41,168	32,126	39,827
Non-IFSC	Assets	36,751	19,880	10,698	3,519	17,293	5,241	-1,147	16,433	-3,633	8,227
	Liabilities	-230	10,581	-6,801	734	9,114	-3,277	-5,702	786	2,921	12,576

Reserve Assets		429	1,248	2	121	125	181	138	19	695	396

Balance on Financial Account		-66,309	-10,424	11,291	-56,754	4,795	-25,641	-24,138	-2,027	3,041	12,700
Net errors and omissions		9,235	-9,222	8,910	-6,850	-1,673	8,848	-4,760	-5,787	-7,746	9,071
¹From the start of 2000, new international financial service projects are no longer subject to the earlier certification and licensing procedures in operation for location in the IFSC and such projects can, therefore, locate anywhere in Ireland. Additions to existing IFSC projects, however, are still subject to the formal procedures. For statistical analysis purposes this table still shows the 'IFSC/non-IFSC' breakdown and the activities of all international financial service enterprises are covered under the IFSC heading.
²Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.
³Secondary income flows to and from IFSC enterprises relate solely to non-life insurance transactions - see Background Notes.
⁴See footnote 1 on Table 1.4.
⁵Includes 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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Table 1.6 Current and Capital Accounts showing geographical detail

Table 1.6 Current and Capital Accounts showing geographical¹ detail											€ million
		2019	2020	2019				2020
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4

Current Account - Total	Inflows	562,670	566,896	131,973	138,349	142,985	149,363	140,088	131,637	138,153	157,018
	Outflows	603,074	549,972	122,820	170,951	131,376	177,927	154,645	119,975	125,448	149,904

Merchandise²	Exports	227,497	237,813	56,499	54,444	57,406	59,148	59,452	55,997	60,263	62,101
	Imports	108,372	99,050	26,275	26,344	25,802	29,951	25,043	22,622	23,443	27,942
EMU	Exports	63,692	68,076	18,040	15,762	15,120	14,770	15,889	15,669	17,686	18,832
	Imports	32,846	30,200	7,754	8,209	7,322	9,561	8,022	6,107	7,152	8,919
Non-EMU	Exports	163,803	169,735	38,459	38,682	42,285	44,377	43,562	40,327	42,577	43,269
	Imports	75,526	68,848	18,521	18,135	18,480	20,390	17,020	16,515	16,290	19,023
EU	Exports	92,087	74,739	24,930	22,538	22,187	22,432	17,476	17,194	19,215	20,854
	Imports	61,997	33,533	15,374	14,924	14,227	17,472	8,928	6,872	7,911	9,822
Non-EU	Exports	135,410	163,073	31,569	31,906	35,219	36,716	41,976	38,803	41,048	41,246
	Imports	46,374	65,516	10,901	11,420	11,574	12,479	16,114	15,750	15,532	18,120

Services	Exports	221,370	229,996	48,280	54,768	55,723	62,599	52,712	51,737	53,858	71,689
	Imports	296,702	258,931	48,359	93,699	54,727	99,917	80,868	52,525	48,288	77,250
EMU	Exports	53,727	56,369	11,904	13,808	13,421	14,594	12,520	12,920	13,412	17,517
	Imports	55,821	31,435	12,320	12,469	14,530	16,502	7,174	8,519	6,612	9,130
Non-EMU	Exports	167,643	173,628	36,377	40,959	42,302	48,005	40,193	38,817	40,446	54,172
	Imports	240,881	227,496	36,039	81,230	40,197	83,415	73,695	44,006	41,676	68,119
EU	Exports	100,814	69,754	22,343	25,336	25,417	27,718	15,488	15,874	16,562	21,830
	Imports	79,404	34,431	17,627	18,298	20,443	23,036	7,893	9,186	7,355	9,997
Non-EU	Exports	120,555	160,241	25,937	29,431	30,306	34,881	37,224	35,863	37,295	49,859
	Imports	217,298	224,500	30,732	75,401	34,284	76,881	72,975	43,339	40,933	67,253

Primary Income	Inflows	108,801	93,406	26,143	28,098	28,623	25,937	26,453	22,535	22,633	21,785
	Outflows	189,428	182,402	45,811	49,209	48,720	45,688	46,181	42,451	51,568	42,202
EMU	Inflows	38,293	32,497	10,085	8,538	9,978	9,692	10,170	6,972	7,439	7,916
	Outflows	57,153	49,624	14,143	15,613	16,358	11,039	13,601	11,823	13,605	10,595
Non-EMU	Inflows	70,509	60,908	16,058	19,560	18,646	16,245	16,283	15,562	15,194	13,869
	Outflows	132,276	132,776	31,668	33,597	32,362	34,649	32,580	30,627	37,962	31,607
EU	Inflows	67,248	35,890	16,640	16,088	17,522	16,998	11,083	7,880	8,364	8,563
	Outflows	98,906	51,269	23,780	27,418	27,311	20,397	14,006	12,250	13,985	11,028
Non-EU	Inflows	41,553	57,516	9,503	12,010	11,101	8,939	15,370	14,655	14,269	13,222
	Outflows	90,522	131,133	22,030	21,792	21,409	25,291	32,176	30,200	37,583	31,174

Secondary Income	Inflows	5,003	5,683	1,052	1,039	1,233	1,679	1,472	1,369	1,399	1,443
	Outflows	8,573	9,590	2,375	1,699	2,128	2,371	2,553	2,377	2,150	2,510
EMU	Inflows	1,948	2,469	379	440	413	716	504	669	572	724
	Outflows	2,542	3,098	501	597	570	874	662	826	729	881
Non-EMU	Inflows	3,054	3,214	672	600	820	962	968	701	827	718
	Outflows	6,032	6,491	1,874	1,103	1,557	1,498	1,891	1,551	1,420	1,629
EU	Inflows	3,476	2,768	738	770	847	1,121	571	752	650	795
	Outflows	6,238	6,034	1,880	1,240	1,539	1,579	1,537	1,544	1,245	1,708
Non-EU	Inflows	1,527	2,913	314	269	386	558	900	617	749	647
	Outflows	2,336	3,557	496	459	589	792	1,016	833	905	803

Balance on Current Account		-40,404	16,924	9,153	-32,602	11,609	-28,564	-14,557	11,663	12,705	7,113

Balance on Capital Account		-35,139	-18,124	-6,771	-17,302	-5,141	-5,925	-4,820	-7,903	-1,918	-3,483
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
		2019	2020	2019				2020
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4

Direct Investment	Abroad	-14,858	-43,315	8,131	-60,549	27,796	9,764	-10,626	-2,920	-15,874	-13,895
	In Ireland	72,448	29,263	2,010	-4,229	33,194	41,473	4,076	64,428	-19,372	-19,869

EMU	Abroad	-13,408	-15,569	17,075	-30,879	-10,118	10,514	12,057	7,506	1,713	-36,845
	In Ireland	-13,492	-3,935	68,299	-34,311	29,027	-76,507	-7,699	14,494	1,730	-12,460
Non-EMU	Abroad	-1,450	-27,746	-8,944	-29,669	37,914	-751	-22,683	-10,426	-17,587	22,950
	In Ireland	85,942	33,198	-66,290	30,083	4,168	117,981	11,775	49,934	-21,102	-7,409
EU	Abroad	-14,810	-13,465	22,806	-29,166	-11,629	3,179	12,189	7,555	2,832	-36,041
	In Ireland	-26,749	-1,494	70,296	-31,676	22,319	-87,688	-7,526	15,347	2,145	-11,460
Non-EU	Abroad	-47	-29,850	-14,675	-31,382	39,425	6,585	-22,814	-10,475	-18,707	22,146
	In Ireland	99,198	30,759	-68,286	27,447	10,876	129,161	11,603	49,081	-21,516	-8,409

Portfolio Investment	Assets	321,381	254,200	44,528	27,087	132,169	117,597	-113,863	168,713	54,253	145,097
	Liabilities	292,208	222,933	34,263	37,023	138,786	82,136	-30,726	86,405	43,517	123,737

EMU	Assets	100,546	39,869	11,095	10,759	39,696	38,996	-40,503	41,690	18,737	19,945
	Liabilities	121,668	110,294	932	25,578	64,233	30,925	-10,239	39,579	31,852	49,102
Non-EMU	Assets	220,836	214,332	33,433	16,328	92,474	78,601	-73,359	127,023	35,516	125,152
	Liabilities	170,540	112,639	33,331	11,445	74,553	51,211	-20,487	46,826	11,666	74,634
EU	Assets	173,247	47,781	31,586	13,058	71,124	57,479	-42,969	46,578	18,277	25,895
	Liabilities	264,381	116,964	35,024	30,862	132,013	66,482	-11,084	42,809	31,613	53,626
Non-EU	Assets	148,134	206,420	12,942	14,029	61,045	60,118	-70,894	122,135	35,977	119,202
	Liabilities	27,827	105,969	-761	6,161	6,773	15,654	-19,641	43,595	11,904	70,111

Other Investment³	Assets	114,860	181,706	54,657	27,488	56,690	-23,975	178,561	-57,388	23,160	37,373
	Liabilities	123,464	152,067	59,753	18,107	40,005	5,599	104,998	-40,381	35,047	52,403

EMU	Assets	102,986	87,201	48,354	8,922	44,793	917	57,138	4,102	18,299	7,662
	Liabilities	52,528	43,829	30,939	7,711	12,744	1,134	19,451	-226	4,357	20,247
Non-EMU	Assets	11,873	94,505	6,303	18,565	11,897	-24,892	121,423	-61,490	4,861	29,711
	Liabilities	70,937	108,239	28,815	10,396	27,261	4,465	85,548	-40,156	30,691	32,156
EU	Assets	107,279	91,236	57,170	975	49,624	-490	58,759	5,976	17,763	8,738
	Liabilities	87,078	43,137	50,144	10,436	12,205	14,293	19,131	1,173	3,604	19,229
Non-EU	Assets	7,580	90,470	-2,513	26,512	7,066	-23,485	119,801	-63,363	5,397	28,635
	Liabilities	36,386	108,931	9,609	7,671	27,800	-8,694	85,867	-41,554	31,444	33,174

Reserve Assets		429	1,248	2	121	125	181	138	19	695	396

Balance on Financial Account		-66,309	-10,424	11,291	-56,754	4,795	-25,641	-24,138	-2,027	3,041	12,700

Net errors and omissions		9,235	-9,222	8,910	-6,850	-1,673	8,848	-4,760	-5,787	-7,746	9,071
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.

Open in Excel: International Accounts Q4 2020 Table 1.7 (XLS 15KB)

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International Accounts Q4 2020

Balance of International Payments

Balance of International Payments

Current account balance of €7.1bn in Quarter 4 2020

Current account (see Table 1.3)

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

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