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Private Sector (S.11 + S.14 + S.15)

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The total debt1 of the Private Sector2 decreased by 5.6% during 2020 to stand at €704.5bn by year-end. The threshold of 133% of GDP, set as part of the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure (MIP), was exceeded again in 2020. Figure 3.1 shows the development of private sector debt since 2010. The contribution from households to total private sector debt – composed mainly of mortgage-related debt – has maintained a steady decline from its peak in 2008 of €202.7bn, falling by €69.0bn in the intervening period.

The debt of non-financial corporations (NFCs) decreased in 2020 by €38.1bn, or 6.3%, continuing the downward trend started in 2016. In contrast, non-financial corporate debt grew by 70.6% in 2015 which drove the overall increase in private sector debt. This was driven by corporate restructuring both through imports of individual assets and also reclassifications of entire balance sheets in 2015 which meant that the level of capital assets in Ireland increased dramatically compared to 2014 (see National Balance Sheet for Ireland 2015 for further information).

S.11 Non-Financial CorporationsS.14 + S.15 Households and NPISHMIP Threshold
2010147.111647879714110.467535897587133
2011168.921132529456104.166585313502133
2012178.26033052492898.2601279833495133
2013172.74844290508693.3297161394323133
2014195.64109908900780.9843625960899133
2015247.52571043191156.5053188093029133
2016230.84343409359152.3764961446651133
2017203.03552387360546.8052784970284133
2018188.20269429154942.9579065937643133
2019170.75823746694238.6627414903347133
2020153.06185654431835.8696940303243133

The flow of private sector credit (defined as the sum of consolidated transactions in Table 2.6 - AF.3 Debt Securities and AF.4 Loans) was -1.8% of GDP during 2020. As shown in Figure 3.2, this was well within the threshold of +14% set under the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure. A positive credit flow equates to a net incurrence of debt during the year whereas a negative sign indicates a net running-down of debt during the same accounting period. The negative credit flows occurring in the Household sector since 2009, cumulatively amounting to €50.2bn, correspond to a net repayment, primarily, of mortgage related debt.

Total Credit FlowMIP Threshold
20102.2281833935794714
201116.342600512601414
2012-0.49937255818371714
2013-1.3723792320457914
20142.5512463465101214
2015-2.2710751695579514
2016-15.811017645467414
20170.2507781345753814
2018-8.7688273107278714
2019-9.5624507143393614
2020-1.8303678959235914

A breakdown of the Non-Financial Corporations sector (S.11) financial balance sheet by ownership, along with corporate inversions/redomiciled PLCs, is presented in Table 2.9.

The total liabilities of foreign-owned NFCs, relative to the size of the sector, can be seen in Figure 3.3 (2012 – 2020). In 2020, foreign-owned NFCs make up 55.0% of the NFC sector. Note that the percentage of redomiciled PLCs is 16.1% in 2012 and increases to 28.4% by 2015, this is related to the increase of capital assets in Ireland in 2015, as discussed above.

Irish-owned NFCs (excluding redomiciled PLCs)Redomiciled PLCsForeign-owned NFCs
20120.2754301414822820.1411159544339190.459247172328799
20130.3277539369901830.1996786020066260.465678645202591
20140.3467326914732850.3268599350454250.55787289381531
20150.4689251047125620.5500565657696920.918468735209056
20160.524647429511620.5690407088263850.998899997226221
20170.5140907345554690.5202787006918971.18344285309166
20180.6043635538937710.5120751460847831.28559543841854
20190.6432319249727020.6250230073189831.51746743326266
20200.7045105008452070.5129574408824551.48533337322092

Figure 3.4 shows the Net Financial Worth (BF.90) for S.11 proportioned by ownership (2012 – 2020). The trend shows that before 2015 much of the Net Financial Worth can be attributed almost evenly between foreign and Irish-owned entities, while the substantial change that occurs during 2015 is largely attributed to the foreign-owned NFC group (increasing from 55.4% in 2014 to 69.3% in 2015 of the total Net Financial Worth). In 2020 this proportion stands at 75.2%.

Irish-owned NFCs (excl. redomiciled PLCs)Redomiciled PLCsForeign-owned NFCs
2012-108.126407982099-22.196566833548-133.911352782353
2013-119.965984071735-28.7965645358819-131.429533992534
2014-112.816466057571-20.6330391710369-165.615673041639
2015-131.594090549752-39.1896031903718-385.885055029071
2016-121.894959332825-6.91368503004464-442.29653106001
2017-101.79122532415-21.6179177164689-458.110372431501
2018-157.746262488007-23.353042750796-501.863975311053
2019-157.351604696606-17.6822034972797-654.440521699829
2020-174.838142559863-24.5138441680595-603.478120698531

1Defined as the sum of consolidated stock positions of Table 2.8 - AF.3 Debt Securities and AF.4 Loans.

2Defined as the sum of the S.11 Non-Financial Corporations sector and the S.14 + S.15 Households and Non-Profit Institutions Serving Households sector.

Go to the next chapter: Financial Sector