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Financial Sector (S.12)

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The balance sheet assets of the financial corporations sector (Table 2.3 and 2.4) grew by 16.0% compared to 2018. This continued the 2018 trend of balance sheet expansion. The growth from 2014 to 2019 was driven primarily by activity in the non-Money Market Funds (S.124) sector. The financial assets of sector S.12 increased by €834.8bn in 2019, while its liabilities grew from €5,238.0bn to €6,048.1bn during the same period. The Financial Sector in Ireland's National Accounts publication explores the financial subsectors in greater detail. The evolution of the financial assets of S.12 from 2009 to 2019 is shown in Figure 4.1.

Monetary Financial Institutions (S.121+S.122+S.123)Non-Money Market Investment Funds (S.124)Other Financial Intermediaries (S.125+S.126+S.127)Insurance Corporations & Pension Funds (S.128+S.129)
20091.7558820.4600529420.9518209556009130.27230176591083
20101.7022690.6455030821.03736401918590.29884338212025
20111.41420470.8186479951.111090548909450.284114227494
20121.2497851.017969920057011.004045973883490.296716526195
20131.1050621.180331699495841.058596914462450.306508616149
20141.144341162101071.629074925977991.148145823090810.349475732553
20151.161611206685591.779507647047731.40320798447510.374338868197
20161.141217551312881.919973999130811.390025434101680.394742686033
20171.114849344768822.218796912527541.262676805726130.410011608793
20181.172832794178782.31736086002961.338970912277020.403084668919
20191.342293794182872.915263053361951.346933009144350.462541816683

The balance sheet of the Monetary Financial Institutions sector (S.121+S.122+S.123) contracted during the period 2009-2013, where its assets fell by €759.5bn and its liabilities by €764.8bn. During 2014 and 2015 this trend was reversed as financial assets and liabilities grew over their 2013 values. In 2019 the assets increased by 14.4% and the liabilities by 13.3% over the 2018 values.

The balance sheet of the non-Money Market Investment Funds sector (S.124) continued to grow during 2019. Figure 4.1 shows the change in contribution by S.124 to the overall size of the financial sector balance sheet. Aside from a drop in balance sheet size during 2008, relating to the financial crisis, the sector has exhibited continuous growth in the intervening period, where its financial assets have grown cumulatively by €2,573.3bn – an increase of 752.4%. This growth in the value of total assets has been significantly influenced by holding gains across a range of asset classes during this period.

y-o-y Growth RateMIP Threshold
20093.3604058818604916.5
20106.3365341068059416.5
2011-2.2827822915134116.5
2012-1.7938805175648616.5
20131.9477393206968416.5
201419.548041192989116.5
20159.6347897154456416.5
20161.5132202635472916.5
20174.2560728202423216.5
20184.551757805504316.5
201915.466355912935916.5

The year-on-year percentage change in total liabilities of the financial sector is illustrated in Figure 4.2. The corresponding MIP Scoreboard threshold of 16.5% for this indicator is also shown in the same figure. The years leading up to 2009 saw positive growth largely dominated by the expansion of the balance sheet of the banking sector related to the housing boom. In the ensuing period of 2009-2013 there has been a deleveraging effect in the banking sector which has been offset by significant expansion of the investment funds sector. The marked reverse in trend during the period 2014-2019 has been caused by simultaneous growth in both the investment funds and financial intermediaries sectors. Here the data shows a year-on-year change of 19.6% in 2014 which is above the 16.5% MIP threshold. The subsequent year-on-year changes are below the MIP threshold, with a growth rate of 15.5% in 2019. These trends are also shown in the sector breakdown of Figure 4.3.

Monetary Financial Institutions (S.121+S.122+S.123)Non-Money Market Investment Funds (S.124)Other Financial Intermediaries (S.125+S.126+S.127)Insurance Corporations & Pension Funds (S.128+S.129)
20091.7606120.4594350780.9757089777859120.27597950502911
20101.7124180.645648071.031082646211180.302574552513
20111.418218211246870.8187224151.08140808844620.289100549001
20121.2306610256531.018349894115880.9900002028237340.303724811579
20131.10496321.180812161141331.017052991350610.308910842498
20141.157570504876231.63438085169081.172845133122870.35296697092
20151.125802895450661.799829078571451.429502959999890.378635956428
20161.155504626518771.919118640959061.331785925674370.398994077642
20171.14089800531952.200632869074051.254584573666960.413809285245
20181.206533718736322.292737925333221.331357144198090.407335585136
20191.36696391350432.868755680114661.344608330873060.467758661495

This year's publication also includes data in the current and capital non-financial accounts for subsectors of the financial corporations. There are three groups of subsectors: monetary financial institutions (S.121+S.122+S.123), financial intermediaries and funds (S.124+S.125+S.126+S.127), and insurance corporations and pension funds (S.128+S.129).

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