The balance sheet assets of the financial corporations sector (Table 2.3 and 2.4) decreased by 4.7% compared to 2021. This marked the first decline in the balance sheet since 2012. The balance sheet expansion from 2013 to 2021, and the decline in 2022 were driven primarily by activity in the non-Money Market Funds (S.124) sector. The financial assets of sector S.12 decreased by €374.4bn in 2022, while its liabilities declined from €7,842.8bn to €7,527.7bn 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 2012 to 2022 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) | |
| 2012 | 1.249718 | 1.01796992005701 | 1.02598297388349 | 0.321514348790292 |
| 2013 | 1.104995 | 1.18033169949584 | 1.06438661446245 | 0.336971973454292 |
| 2014 | 1.14427216210107 | 1.62907492597799 | 1.13973362309081 | 0.382878571878189 |
| 2015 | 1.16154209668559 | 1.77950764704773 | 1.3926249844751 | 0.410701198712995 |
| 2016 | 1.14114765131288 | 1.91997399913081 | 1.39165153410168 | 0.433233430783 |
| 2017 | 1.11321427916037 | 2.21743217802572 | 1.26949650572613 | 0.450508919793 |
| 2018 | 1.17298765845707 | 2.31343660265903 | 1.3756109259515 | 0.445394341604724 |
| 2019 | 1.34322973250141 | 2.91446457940552 | 1.37320559793907 | 0.510554569098 |
| 2020 | 1.48892749728 | 3.137930425039 | 1.48313617455695 | 0.541890319348 |
| 2021 | 1.592849034098 | 3.848440074737 | 1.86074277364906 | 0.60358323352 |
| 2022 | 1.73048578831 | 3.392628326227 | 1.85993701477445 | 0.548186614896 |
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. This trend was reversed in 2014, as financial assets and liabilities grew over their 2013 values. In 2022 the balance sheet continued to grow: the assets increased by 8.6% and the liabilities by 8.3% over the 2021 values.
The balance sheet of the non-Money Market Investment Funds sector (S.124) contracted during 2022, with assets falling by 11.8% and liabilities by 12.5% compared to 2021. The decline in the value of total assets and liabilities has been significantly influenced by holding losses during this period. This marked the first drop in balance sheet size since 2008. Figure 4.1 shows the change in contribution by S.124 to the overall size of the financial sector balance sheet. During the period 2009 to 2021, the sector exhibited continuous growth, with financial assets growing cumulatively €3,506.4bn – an increase of 1,025.3%.
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 2014-2021 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 18.9% in 2014 and 19.0% in 2021, which are above the 16.5% MIP threshold. The year-on-year change in 2022 was below the MIP threshold, marking a decline of 4.0% compared to 2021.
| y-o-y Growth Rate | MIP Threshold | |
| 2012 | -1.06106692055515 | 16.5 |
| 2013 | 1.81790327750459 | 16.5 |
| 2014 | 18.9468415882033 | 16.5 |
| 2015 | 9.68667986448585 | 16.5 |
| 2016 | 1.76598297799894 | 16.5 |
| 2017 | 4.22808089757269 | 16.5 |
| 2018 | 5.14952469786229 | 16.5 |
| 2019 | 15.3879992039727 | 16.5 |
| 2020 | 7.621557761383 | 16.5 |
| 2021 | 18.9925572946533 | 16.5 |
| 2022 | -4.0179988299433 | 16.5 |
The trends evidenced in Figure 4.2 are also present in the sector breakdown of Figure 4.3. The balance sheet contraction in 2022 was influenced by negative year-on-year percentage changes in investment funds and, to a lesser extent, in insurance corporations and pension funds.
| 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) | |
| 2012 | 1.230661025653 | 1.01834989411588 | 1.00479100282373 | 0.328522634174292 |
| 2013 | 1.1049632 | 1.18081216114133 | 1.02229819135061 | 0.339374199803292 |
| 2014 | 1.15757050487623 | 1.6343808516908 | 1.16020273312287 | 0.386369810245189 |
| 2015 | 1.12580289545066 | 1.79982907857145 | 1.41815255999989 | 0.414998286943995 |
| 2016 | 1.15550462651877 | 1.91911864095906 | 1.33071402567437 | 0.437484822392 |
| 2017 | 1.15524535864401 | 2.19803572375898 | 1.23999247366696 | 0.454306996245 |
| 2018 | 1.21031174493927 | 2.30043733583274 | 1.34711262090717 | 0.449645257821724 |
| 2019 | 1.37045380257385 | 2.88215665576185 | 1.35564250569 | 0.515973124154 |
| 2020 | 1.526325948566 | 3.138052498352 | 1.377349890534 | 0.549259179476 |
| 2021 | 1.629815598597 | 3.840901858172 | 1.765265970573 | 0.606801170022 |
| 2022 | 1.764967686607 | 3.362456241671 | 1.84438420723394 | 0.555853468495 |
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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