The Irish economy grew in 2022 due to both domestic enterprises and foreign multinationals here.
Households added €18bn in savings to their wealth in 2022, down from €26bn in 2021.
Households' debt-to-income ratio continued to decline as income grew faster than new borrowing.
Household net wealth held in financial assets stood at €359bn at the end of the year. This is in addition to wealth held in assets such as houses.
Government net debt was €206bn or 41% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the end of 2022, down from 128% in 2013.
Assets of financial corporations decreased by 4.7% in the year, their first decline since 2012.
Private sector debt increased in 2022 and remains above the EU target threshold.
These accounts published today show the economic situation for the separate sectors of households, corporations (financial and non-financial, domestic, and foreign-owned), and government. They integrate the profit and loss account (non-financial account) for each sector with changes in their balance sheets (financial account). They thus provide the most detailed integrated picture of the Irish economy.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (14 November 2023) released the Institutional Sector Accounts, Non-Financial and Financial 2022. Commenting on the release, Lucia Perez Alfaro, Statistician in the International Accounts Division said: “Today's release shows that households added €18bn to their wealth in 2022, a decline from the high level during the pandemic years 2020-2021. Household net wealth in financial assets stood at €359bn at the end of the year, more than three times its level 20 years ago.
Private sector debt increased in 2022 and remains above the EU target threshold of 133% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, because current price GDP grew in 2022, debt as a proportion of GDP actually declined. Households debt increased slightly after shrinking for several years.
Government net debt was €206bn or 41% of GDP at the end of 2022, down from 128% in 2013. There was a surplus of €8.1bn for the year after deficits in 2020 and 2021.
Meanwhile, the balance sheet assets of the financial corporations sector decreased by 4.7% compared with 2021. The financial assets of the sector decreased by €374bn in 2022 to €7,531bn. This marked the first decline in the balance sheet since 2012. The decline in this €7.5 trillion balance sheet is largely due to holding losses."