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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 4.7% compared to 2017. This continued the 2017 trend of balance sheet expansion. The growth from 2014 to 2018 was driven primarily by activity in the non-Money Market Funds (S.124) sector. The financial assets of sector S.12 increased by €233.1bn in 2018, while its liabilities grew from €5,009.9bn to €5,265.9bn 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 2008 to 2018 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)
20081.86452750.342007048640.8836309664272340.24327927511097
20091.7558820.4600529420.9517769556009130.27230176591083
20101.7022690.6455030821.03730401918590.29884338212025
20111.41420470.8186479951.111040548909450.284114227494
20121.2497851.017969920057011.004249973883490.296716526195
20131.1050621.180331699495841.058809914462450.306508616149
20141.144341162101071.629074925977991.148279823090810.349475732553
20151.161611206685591.779507647047731.40331798447510.374338868197
20161.141217551312881.919973999130811.390079434101680.394742686033
20171.114849344768822.218796912527541.262251805726130.410011608793
20181.172832794178782.31736086002961.345417985781020.403353218019

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 2018 the assets increased by 5.2% and the liabilities by 6.1% over the 2017 values.

The balance sheet of the non-Money Market Investment Funds sector (S.124) continued to grow during 2018. 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 €1,975.4bn – an increase of 577.6%. 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
20086.4690091031853616.5
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
20185.1094465534261716.5

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 positive growth seen in 2008 was 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 2014-2018 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 5.1% in 2018. 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)
20081.8697870.34995818160.8920190379001860.24709987472867
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
20181.210533718736322.292737925333221.355049625615090.407582890236

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).

Go to the next chapter: General Government