Ireland’s Balance of Payments showed a current account surplus of €15.8bn in Quarter 4 (Q4) 2022.
Merchandise exports were €94.8bn in Q4 2022, an increase of €22.4bn compared with Q4 2021. Merchandise imports were €40.8bn in Q4 2022, a rise of €8.8bn compared with the same period in 2021.
Service exports at €91.7bn, grew by €6.3bn compared with Q4 2021. Service imports at €98.4bn were down €2.2bn over the same period in 2021.
The trade balance at €47.3bn, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, increased by €22.2bn in Q4 2022 over the same period in 2021.
The overall income balance for Q4 2022 was -€31.4bn a decrease of €11bn compared with the same period in 2021.
Direct investment into Ireland decreased by €1bn in Q4 2022 while direct investment abroad increased by €17.5bn in the quarter.
The stock of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) assets held in Ireland by foreign investors fell by €78.8bn in Q4 2022 to €1,320.8bn. FDI assets held abroad by Irish investors grew by €11.3bn in the quarter to €1,110.4bn.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (03 March 2023) released the International Accounts results for Quarter 4, 2022.
Commenting on the release, Jennifer Banim, Assistance Director General with responsibility for Economic Statistics said:
"In International Accounts results, the Current Account of the Balance of Payments recorded a surplus of €44.2 billion in flows with the rest of the world in 2022, driven largely by an improvement in the merchandise trade balance of €37.1 billion. However, a dis-improvement of €17.3 billion in the Services balance between 2021 and 2022 reflects higher levels of Royalty and IPP imports in 2022. Multinational profit net outflows were €119.7 billion in the year, an increase of €33.1 billion on 2021 levels.
Today’s International Accounts publication includes a table of Current Account transactions with the UK. The results show a surplus of €10.8 billion for Trade in Goods & Services with the UK in 2022, a dis-improvement of €5.1 billion on the 2021 trade balance. The trade surplus was offset by a deficit of €17.6 billion for net income flows, giving an overall Current Account deficit of €6.8 billion with the UK in 2022". For more commentary please see Press Statement.