Ireland’s Balance of Payments showed a current account deficit of €0.4bn in Quarter 4 (Q4) 2023.
Merchandise exports were €72bn in Q4 2023, a decrease of €23.8bn compared with Q4 2022. Merchandise imports were €42.2bn in Q4 2023, up €1bn compared with the same period in 2022.
Service exports at €101bn, grew by €9.6bn compared with Q4 2022. Service imports at €108.8bn were up €10.9bn over the same period in 2022.
The trade balance at €22bn, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, decreased by €26bn in Q4 2023 over the same period in 2022.
The overall income balance for Q4 2023 was -€22.5bn, an increase of €10.4bn compared with the same period in 2022.
Direct investment into Ireland rose by €6.6bn in Q4 2023 while direct investment abroad increased by €13.2bn in the quarter.
The stock of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) assets held in Ireland by foreign investors grew by €13.6bn in Q4 2023 to €1,276.1bn. FDI assets held abroad by Irish investors were up by €42.5bn in the quarter to €1,209.4bn.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (01 March 2024) published the International Accounts results for Quarter 4 (Q4) 2023.
Commenting on the release, Jennifer Banim, Assistant Director General with responsibility for National Accounts and Price Statistics said:
“In International Accounts results, the Current Account of the Balance of Payments recorded a surplus of €49.8 billion in flows with the rest of the world in 2023, compared with a surplus of €54.6 billion in 2022, driven largely by a dis-improvement in the merchandise trade balance of €40.6 billion. However, an improvement of €7.7 billion in the Services balance between 2022 and 2023 reflects higher levels of Computer Services Exports in 2023. Multinational profit net outflows were €96.4 billion in the year, a decrease of €29.0 billion on 2022 levels.
Today’s International Accounts publication includes a table of Current Account transactions with the UK (see Table 3.1). The results show a surplus of €9.8 billion for Trade in Goods & Services with the UK in 2023, an improvement of €5.1 billion on the 2022 trade balance. The trade surplus was offset by a deficit of €28.8 billion for net income flows, giving an overall Current Account deficit of €19.0 billion with the UK in 2023.”
More commentary is available in the Press Release also issued today Press Statement.