Table 3.1 below compares the non-financial transactions of the total economy in Q1 2026 with those of Q1 2025.
GDP was €138bn in 2026 Q1, in current prices not seasonally adjusted. This is €21bn (-13%) lower than Q1 2025. Gross operating surplus (GOS, B2A3G) decreased by €24bn (-22%) while compensation of employees (COE) grew by €2.4bn (6%).
As we saw in the previous chapter, a large part of the decrease in value added in 2026 Q1 was in Industry, which is dominated by foreign-owned multinational corporations. After accounting for the international flows of investment income, including outflows of profits and dividends by foreign multi-nationals, GNI (B.5g) was €117.5bn, up €15.7bn (15%) on the €101.8bn seen in Q1 2025.
The consumption of goods and services by households and government (P.3) was €57.7bn, an increase of €3.1bn (6%) compared to the first quarter of 2025. This resulted in an €12.3bn increase in gross saving (B.8g) to €58.2bn.
Capital investment (P.5) was down €1.6bn (-4%) to €40.3bn. Such capital investment should increase the value added here in future quarters. The statistical discrepancy is included in P.5. Net investment in non-produced non-financial assets was down €1.9bn. In aggregate this resulted in net lending (B.9) of €16.3bn, up €12bn (280%) from Q1 2025.
Table 3.2 below compares Ireland's transactions with the rest of the world in Q1 2026 to Q1 2025.
This is set out from the point of view of Ireland. That is, income received by Ireland from the rest of the world is shown as a positive. The Pxstat tables show these transactions from the point of view of Rest of the World (S.2): for example, income Ireland pays to the rest of the world is a resource of the rest of the world.
As we saw above, GDP (B.1G) was down by €21bn compared to Q1 2025, largely driven by lower value added by industrial non-financial corporations. In Table 3.2 we can see a €36bn decrease in exports of pharmaceuticals, which drove the €25bn overall decrease in exports of goods (P.61). There was a €1.7bn decrease in the import of services (P.72), despite a €5.2bn increase in the imports of royalties. Such royalty imports, along with the investment (P.5) seen in Table 3.1, are generally associated with long-term production activities. After accounting for these reduced exports and more stable imports, net exports of goods and services (exports minus imports, B.11) was down €22.5bn (-36%) from the first quarter of 2025 to €40.2bn.
The reduced value-added among the foreign-controlled non-financial corporations led to lower gross operating surplus (B.2A3G) for these companies, which in turn produced lower investment flowing out of the country. Net investment income (D.4) outflow decreased by €36.6bn (-64%) from €57.4bn to €20.8bn, which was seen in the €24bn decrease in profits (B.2A3G) seen in Table 3.1. Taking all current transfers together, the Current Account Balance (B.12) was €17.9bn in Q1 2026 up 349% from €4bn in Q1 2025.
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