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For more information on this release:

E-mail: bop@cso.ie John Sheridan (+353) 1 498 4258 Annette Hayes (+353) 1 498 4319

For general information on CSO statistics:

information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-5201

CSO statistical release, 10 December 2015, 11am

Quarter 3 2015

				€ million
	Merchandise Balance	Invisibles Balance	Current Account Balance	Current Account Balance as % of GDP
Q3 2015	17,587	-15,142	2,446	4.5
Q3 2014	11,431	-8,306	3,125	6.4
Q1-Q3 2015	48,841	-42,068	6,775	4.3
Q1-Q3 2014	31,797	-27,406	4,391	3.1

Current account surplus of €2.4bn in 3rd Quarter

Balance of International Payments Q3 2015 Fig 1

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The Balance of Payments current account, a measure of Ireland’s financial flows with the rest of the world, had a surplus in the third quarter of 2015 of €2,446m. This is a decrease from the €3,125m surplus in the third quarter of 2014, see Table 1. A surplus of €17,587m on merchandise was offset by a deficit of €15,142m on invisibles (services and income) in the quarter.

X-axis label	Merchandise	Services	Primary Income	Secondary Income	Balance on Current account
Q2 2013	9.79	-0.531	-7.848	-0.699	0.712
Q3 2013	9.978	0.748	-6.864	-0.663	3.198
Q4 2013	7.439	-0.074	-4.539	-0.732	2.095
Q1 2014	9.118	-1.695	-7.141	-0.895	-0.613
Q2 2014	11.248	-1.839	-6.926	-0.604	1.879
Q3 2014	11.431	-0.574	-7.191	-0.541	3.125
Q4 2014	10.5	-3.518	-3.845	-0.695	2.442
Q1 2015	14.15	-3.876	-7.804	-0.846	1.625
Q2 2015	17.104	-5.195	-8.539	-0.666	2.704
Q3 2015	17.587	-5.234	-9.512	-0.396	2.446

Other points of note are:

Current account (see Table 2a)

Compared with the third quarter of 2014, merchandise exports at €36,437m were up €7,379m while merchandise imports at €18,849m were up €1,222m.
Services exports at €30,225m were up €3,872m mainly due to increased computer services exports. Service imports increased by €8,532m to €35,459m driven by increases in both royalties/licences payments and research and development payments.
Investment income earned abroad of €15,966m decreased by €300m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €25,771m increased by €2,381m.

Financial account (see Tables 2b and 3)

Direct investment in Ireland increased by €4,616m in the third quarter of 2015, where an increase of €9,826m in equity and an increase of €9,321m in reinvested earnings were offset by a decrease in other capital of €14,531m.
Direct investment abroad increased by €16,744m, mainly through increased other capital transactions of €19,226m.
Within portfolio investment, liabilities increased through further investment in Irish equity of €28,028m, while foreign assets had decreases in money market instruments of €20,957m offset by increased investment in bonds and notes of €15,190m.
Other investment assets decreased by €34,384m in the third quarter of 2015, while other investment liabilities decreased by €49,476m in the quarter.

X-axis label	Direct Investment	Portfolio Investment	Other Investment	Reserve Assets	Balance on Financial Account
Q2 2013	-7.202	10.992	-5.761	0.001	-1.97
Q3 2013	-0.283	8.362	-5.948	0.004	2.135
Q4 2013	-0.552	17.802	-15.354	0.005	1.9
Q1 2014	4.91	-19.107	12.274	0	-1.923
Q2 2014	-2.751	4.036	3.023	0.001	4.31
Q3 2014	1.726	-11.133	6.587	0.002	-2.819
Q4 2014	5.161	6.073	-3.98	0.133	7.388
Q1 2015	39.061	-69.13	33.386	0.209	3.526
Q2 2015	7.849	19.007	-23.399	0.307	3.764
Q3 2015	12.128	-27.475	15.091	-0.025	-0.28

Show Table 1 Summary of Current, Capital, Financial Account Balances and Net Errors and Omissions

Table 1 Summary of Current, Capital and Financial Account Balances														€ million
Period							Balance on Current Account	Balance on Capital Account	Direct Investment	Portfolio Investment	Other² Investment	Reserve Assets	Balance on Financial Account	Net errors and omissions
		Merchandise¹	Invisibles
			Services	Primary Income	Secondary Income	Total
1998	Year	17,510	-8,426	-9,776	1,319	-16,883	627	840	-4,422	8,466	-7,459	2,280	-1,135	-2,602
1999	Year	22,170	-9,723	-13,398	1,177	-21,944	226	560	-11,359	14,342	974	-1,746	2,211	1,425
2000	Year	28,312	-13,312	-15,327	994	-27,645	667	1,182	-22,957	5,358	9,037	142	-8,420	-10,269
2001	Year	31,464	-12,412	-17,762	-1,075	-31,249	215	779	-6,241	25,158	-19,183	441	175	-819
2002	Year	36,982	-13,619	-21,910	-1,116	-36,645	337	588	-19,444	37,979	-19,425	-343	-1,233	-2,158
2003	Year	32,954	-10,903	-20,035	-1,303	-32,241	713	445	-15,270	39,977	-22,751	-1,770	186	-972
2004	Year	34,588	-12,141	-21,345	-1,255	-34,741	-153	355	23,095	-14,287	-12,170	-1,177	-4,539	-4,741
2005	Year	32,184	-13,655	-22,372	-1,769	-37,795	-5,612	340	38,074	-52,698	15,364	-1,472	-732	4,539
2006	Year	27,194	-12,313	-21,929	-2,063	-36,306	-9,112	299	16,634	-8,135	-16,635	-87	-8,223	590
2007	Year	28,698	-12,384	-25,762	-2,510	-40,656	-11,959	115	-754	7,283	-20,086	12	-13,545	-1,702
2008	Year	32,622	-16,468	-24,263	-2,729	-43,460	-10,837	119	24,167	45,749	-85,932	78	-15,938	-5,220
2009	Year	38,752	-15,823	-26,991	-2,948	-45,762	-7,010	14	649	-22,626	19,433	-79	-2,623	4,373
2010	Year	41,288	-14,707	-25,140	-2,701	-42,548	-1,260	91	-15,446	-85,965	90,883	-5	-10,533	-9,363
2011	Year	41,257	-9,955	-30,651	-2,660	-43,266	-2,009	234	-17,775	-26,908	31,086	-329	-13,926	-12,151
2012	Year	37,638	-7,610	-30,109	-2,609	-40,328	-2,688	86	-17,663	3,820	11,025	-12	-2,830	-228
2013	Year	35,060	-393	-26,189	-2,922	-29,504	5,556	104	-11,953	45,992	-26,436	10	7,611	1,953
2014	Year	42,297	-7,626	-25,103	-2,735	-35,464	6,833	135	9,046	-20,131	17,904	136	6,956	-13

2009	Quarter 1	9,692	-4,189	-7,113	-960	-12,263	-2,571	-3	1,107	2,331	-1,326	-41	2,071	4,646
	Quarter 2	10,140	-3,835	-7,566	-748	-12,149	-2,009	-1	-1,148	15,776	-24,678	62	-9,988	-7,978
	Quarter 3	9,783	-2,514	-7,424	-633	-10,570	-787	-10	7,508	-26,570	21,337	-3	2,272	3,069
	Quarter 4	9,137	-5,285	-4,888	-607	-10,780	-1,643	28	-6,818	-14,163	24,100	-97	3,022	4,637
2010	Quarter 1	10,235	-3,079	-7,527	-879	-11,485	-1,250	50	-4,547	-19,821	31,668	-32	7,268	8,468
	Quarter 2	10,555	-3,606	-7,516	-590	-11,712	-1,157	4	-2,972	8,568	-18,338	19	-12,723	-11,570
	Quarter 3	11,985	-3,358	-6,602	-704	-10,664	1,321	14	1,354	19,581	-25,745	76	-4,734	-6,069
	Quarter 4	8,513	-4,664	-3,495	-528	-8,686	-174	23	-9,281	-94,293	103,299	-68	-343	-192
2011	Quarter 1	10,624	-3,259	-7,728	-841	-11,829	-1,205	24	-8,203	-7,063	11,286	-65	-4,045	-2,864
	Quarter 2	9,576	-1,875	-8,328	-513	-10,716	-1,140	1	-7,373	-22,344	27,157	29	-2,531	-1,393
	Quarter 3	11,547	-1,994	-8,022	-641	-10,657	890	-1	-6,622	19,456	-16,652	-24	-3,842	-4,731
	Quarter 4	9,510	-2,827	-6,573	-664	-10,064	-554	210	4,423	-16,957	9,295	-269	-3,508	-3,164
2012	Quarter 1	9,109	-1,863	-8,616	-814	-11,293	-2,184	61	-12,551	46,421	-32,626	-12	1,232	3,355
	Quarter 2	9,447	-2,724	-7,887	-603	-11,214	-1,766	1	4,073	-31,828	21,009	6	-6,740	-4,975
	Quarter 3	10,256	-1,047	-7,800	-643	-9,490	767	5	-13,439	-5,038	17,833	-1	-645	-1,417
	Quarter 4	8,826	-1,976	-5,806	-549	-8,331	495	19	4,254	-5,735	4,809	-5	3,323	2,809
2013	Quarter 1	7,853	-536	-6,938	-828	-8,302	-449	53	-3,916	8,836	627	0	5,546	5,943
	Quarter 2	9,790	-531	-7,848	-699	-9,078	712	16	-7,202	10,992	-5,761	1	-1,970	-2,697
	Quarter 3	9,978	748	-6,864	-663	-6,779	3,198	1	-283	8,362	-5,948	4	2,135	-1,065
	Quarter 4	7,439	-74	-4,539	-732	-5,345	2,095	34	-552	17,802	-15,354	5	1,900	-228
2014	Quarter 1	9,118	-1,695	-7,141	-895	-9,731	-613	35	4,910	-19,107	12,274	0	-1,923	-1,345
	Quarter 2	11,248	-1,839	-6,926	-604	-9,369	1,879	9	-2,751	4,036	3,023	1	4,310	2,422
	Quarter 3	11,431	-574	-7,191	-541	-8,306	3,125	77	1,726	-11,133	6,587	2	-2,819	-6,021
	Quarter 4	10,500	-3,518	-3,845	-695	-8,058	2,442	14	5,161	6,073	-3,980	133	7,388	4,931
2015	Quarter 1	14,150	-3,876	-7,804	-846	-12,526	1,625	35	39,061	-69,130	33,386	209	3,526	1,866
	Quarter 2	17,104	-5,195	-8,539	-666	-14,400	2,704	12	7,849	19,007	-23,399	307	3,764	1,048
	Quarter 3	17,587	-5,234	-9,512	-396	-15,142	2,446	5	12,128	-27,475	15,091	-25	-280	-2,731
¹Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.
²Includes financial derivatives and also life insurance liabilities to non-residents. Occasionally includes large capital transactions which cannot be shown in the Capital Account
Balance due to confidentiality constraints.

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Show Table 2(a) Current and Capital Accounts

Table 2a Current and Capital Accounts										€ million
		2013	2014	2014				2015
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3
Current Account
Merchandise¹	Exports	98,731	113,207	25,867	28,535	29,058	29,747	32,783	36,486	36,437
	Imports	63,671	70,910	16,749	17,287	17,627	19,247	18,633	19,382	18,849

of which: Merchanting (net export)	Exports	3,715	3,641	850	841	1,265	685	872	870	1,137

Services	Exports	92,703	101,750	22,417	25,926	26,353	27,054	25,822	29,603	30,225
	Imports	93,096	109,376	24,112	27,765	26,927	30,572	29,698	34,798	35,459
Repairs and Processing	Exports	1,440	1,251	290	412	281	268	191	291	292
	Imports	982	1,153	264	320	306	263	194	329	283
Transport	Exports	4,827	5,193	746	1,403	1,976	1,068	842	1,524	2,279
	Imports	1,715	1,842	455	444	443	500	498	540	546
Tourism and Travel²	Exports	3,370	3,656	558	1,036	1,327	735	613	1,228	1,582
	Imports	4,669	4,561	764	1,180	1,627	990	850	1,201	1,742
Insurance	Exports	8,964	9,254	2,298	2,378	2,210	2,368	2,596	2,768	2,627
	Imports	5,855	5,970	1,416	1,562	1,396	1,596	1,757	1,846	1,872
Financial services	Exports	8,069	8,335	1,902	2,107	2,085	2,241	2,248	2,514	2,687
	Imports	5,103	6,662	1,570	1,649	1,820	1,623	1,510	1,668	1,758
Royalties/Licences	Exports	4,388	4,776	1,115	1,102	1,256	1,303	1,194	1,488	1,524
	Imports	36,411	48,482	10,570	12,091	11,928	13,893	14,401	15,530	14,821
Communications	Exports	522	567	139	142	141	145	142	141	135
	Imports	1,049	979	247	255	241	236	225	246	219
Computer services³	Exports	42,056	47,917	10,578	12,572	11,066	13,701	12,524	14,166	13,480
	Imports	482	646	153	167	152	174	142	151	205
Business services	Exports	17,370	19,095	4,430	4,451	5,532	4,682	5,138	4,996	5,091
	Imports	36,559	38,816	8,606	10,032	8,949	11,229	10,053	13,222	13,946
Research and development	Exports	1,086	1,749	288	308	843	310	451	325	416
	Imports	5,846	6,615	1,466	1,545	1,657	1,947	2,094	3,732	4,680
Operational leasing	Exports	7,696	7,843	1,854	1,907	2,039	2,043	2,142	2,303	2,293
	Imports	1,449	1,269	279	332	331	327	334	343	390
Misc. business services⁴	Exports	8,589	9,504	2,288	2,237	2,650	2,329	2,545	2,368	2,383
	Imports	29,264	30,933	6,861	8,156	6,961	8,955	7,626	9,147	8,877
Other services n.e.s.	Exports	1,697	1,710	360	325	481	544	335	486	527
	Imports	269	266	66	66	66	68	66	66	67

Primary Income	Inflows	56,468	62,853	13,875	15,282	16,431	17,265	17,124	16,584	16,496
	Outflows	82,657	87,956	21,016	22,208	23,622	21,110	24,927	25,123	26,008
Compensation of Employees	Inflows	544	541	136	138	136	131	136	136	134
	Outflows	685	699	171	177	174	177	161	170	167
Investment Income	Inflows	54,471	60,994	13,693	15,061	16,266	15,974	16,965	16,408	15,966
	Outflows	81,736	87,005	20,791	21,978	23,390	20,846	24,694	24,876	25,771
Direct investment income	Inflows	18,786	19,459	4,141	4,717	5,195	5,406	5,241	5,921	4,774
	Outflows	41,714	40,326	10,480	9,997	11,225	8,624	11,642	12,147	12,992
Income on equity	Inflows	15,562	16,265	3,229	3,911	4,457	4,668	4,309	5,012	3,803
	Outflows	36,454	35,170	9,300	8,731	9,905	7,234	10,356	10,694	11,660
Dividends & distributed	Inflows	3,956	2,410	101	660	169	1,480	292	*	95
branch profits	Outflows	17,428	13,659	4,020	3,328	3,061	3,250	3,729	3,843	2,339
Reinvested earnings	Inflows	11,603	13,855	3,129	3,251	4,287	3,188	4,017	*	3,708
	Outflows	19,026	21,511	5,280	5,403	6,844	3,984	6,627	6,851	9,321
Income on debt	Inflows	3,226	3,196	912	807	738	739	932	909	971
	Outflows	5,258	5,157	1,181	1,266	1,320	1,390	1,286	1,452	1,331
Portfolio investment income	Inflows	25,620	32,816	7,404	8,182	8,926	8,304	9,122	8,408	9,400
	Outflows	30,252	37,715	8,240	9,751	9,867	9,857	10,510	10,674	11,255
Income on equity	Inflows	6,970	8,988	1,801	2,408	2,558	2,221	2,733	2,272	2,970
	Outflows	20,215	28,800	6,135	7,344	7,654	7,667	8,446	8,533	9,059
Income on debt	Inflows	18,649	23,828	5,603	5,774	6,368	6,083	6,389	6,136	6,430
	Outflows	10,037	8,915	2,106	2,407	2,212	2,190	2,064	2,141	2,196
Other investment income	Inflows	10,064	8,717	2,148	2,162	2,144	2,263	2,602	2,079	1,792
	Outflows	9,770	8,964	2,071	2,230	2,298	2,365	2,542	2,055	1,525
Other primary income	Inflows	1,451	1,318	46	83	29	1,160	22	40	395
	Outflows	234	253	54	53	59	87	72	78	69

Secondary Income	Inflows	3,200	2,861	676	673	746	766	970	876	914
	Outflows	6,122	5,597	1,572	1,278	1,287	1,460	1,815	1,542	1,310

Current Account - Total	Inflows	251,100	280,672	62,835	70,417	72,588	74,832	76,698	83,548	84,071
	Outflows	245,546	273,839	63,449	68,538	69,463	72,389	75,073	80,845	81,626

Current Account Balance		5,556	6,833	-613	1,879	3,125	2,442	1,625	2,704	2,446

Capital Account Balance		104	135	35	9	77	14	35	12	5

Memorandum Item:
Government Income	Inflows	325	128	35	28	40	25	16	62	18
	Outflows	4,690	4,692	1,155	1,185	1,181	1,171	1,121	1,080	1,104
¹Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.
²Under the credit item, passenger fare receipts of resident carriers from foreign visitors are excluded; such receipts are included under transport
credits -see Background Notes.
³Covers exports and imports of software that was not incorporated as part of computer hardware or physical media but separately transmitted by
electronic means. The value of sales and purchases of additional software licences is also included.
⁴Covers mainly advertising and inter-affiliate management charges.

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Open in Excel: Balance of International Payments Q3 2015 Table 2(a) (XLS 43KB)

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Show Table 2(b) Financial Account

Table 2b Financial Account¹										€ million
		2013	2014	2014				2015
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3

Direct Investment	Abroad	21,863	32,511	1,479	5,669	17,796	7,567	47,912	19,770	16,744
	In Ireland	33,816	23,465	-3,431	8,420	16,070	2,406	8,851	11,921	4,616

Equity	Abroad	10,059	-656	-4,610	-8,634	13,141	-553	45,501	*	-6,189
	In Ireland	11,526	15,705	-1,562	9,324	6,513	1,430	2,086	8,787	9,826
Reinvested Earnings	Abroad	11,603	13,855	3,129	3,251	4,287	3,188	4,017	*	3,708
	In Ireland	19,026	21,511	5,280	5,403	6,844	3,984	6,627	6,851	9,321
Other Capital	Abroad	199	19,313	2,961	11,052	368	4,932	-1,605	1,949	19,226
	In Ireland	3,263	-13,749	-7,149	-6,306	2,714	-3,008	138	-3,717	-14,531

Portfolio Investment	Assets	98,516	152,773	47,265	31,474	40,367	33,667	46,992	10,740	1,476
	Liabilities	52,525	172,904	66,372	27,438	51,500	27,594	116,122	-8,267	28,951

Equity	Assets	61,813	68,414	12,766	18,890	16,883	19,875	14,647	22,238	7,243
	Liabilities	81,892	171,547	65,438	27,535	59,194	19,380	103,185	-13,760	28,028
Debt Instruments	Assets	36,704	84,359	34,499	12,584	23,484	13,792	32,345	-11,498	-5,766
	Liabilities	-29,367	1,357	934	-97	-7,694	8,214	12,937	5,493	923
Bonds and notes	Assets	41,977	17,130	-572	4,594	6,365	6,743	5,255	14,369	15,190
	Liabilities	-21,883	649	166	977	-8,770	8,276	12,481	5,760	-1,720
Money market instruments	Assets	-5,273	67,229	35,070	7,990	17,119	7,050	27,090	-25,867	-20,957
	Liabilities	-7,484	709	768	-1,074	1,076	-61	456	-267	2,643

Other Investment	Assets	-49,327	87,530	40,283	2,605	14,104	30,538	38,514	-28,560	-34,384
	Liabilities	-22,891	69,625	28,009	-419	7,517	34,518	5,128	-5,161	-49,476

Loans, currency and deposits	Assets	-41,412	23,886	24,772	-1,938	-1,618	2,670	19,886	-18,549	-10,996
	Liabilities	-15,472	-7,057	2,427	-5,687	-7,701	3,904	-30,328	-12,175	-24,917
Other ²	Assets	-7,915	63,644	15,512	4,543	15,721	27,868	18,627	-10,011	-23,388
	Liabilities	-7,419	76,681	25,582	5,268	15,217	30,614	35,456	7,015	-24,559

Reserve Assets		10	136	0	1	2	133	209	307	-25

Monetary gold		0	0	0	1	0	-1	21	0	0
Special drawing rights		10	0	0	0	0	0	59	0	0
Reserve position in the IMF		0	-1	0	0	0	-1	23	0	0
Foreign exchange		0	0	0	0	2	-2	1	-1	0
Other		0	137	0	0	0	137	105	308	-25

Balance on Financial Account		7,611	6,956	-1,923	4,310	-2,819	7,388	3,526	3,764	-280

Net errors and omissions		1,953	-13	-1,345	2,422	-6,021	4,931	1,866	1,048	-2,731
Memorandum Item:
Government financial	Assets	159	-6,500	-1,411	-2,041	-175	-2,873	-760	-682	-114
transactions	Liabilities	4,068	2,651	3,535	1,888	1,269	-4,041	744	1,356	10
¹Financial account transactions are categorised under two headings 'Assets' and 'Liabilities' for Portfolio Investment, Other Investment and
Reserve Assets. For Direct Investment, a 'directional ' categorisation is used: 'Abroad' indicates direct investment by Irish investors in foreign
companies; Direct investment into Ireland is indicated by the heading 'In Ireland'.
²Includes financial derivatives; in the case of liabilities this category also includes life insurance liabilities to non-residents. Occasionally includes
large capital transactions which cannot be shown in the Capital Account Balance due to confidentiality constraints.

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Table 3 Current, Capital and Financial Accounts showing IFSC¹ and Non–IFSC activity										€ million
		2013	2014	2014				2015
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3
Current Account - Total	Inflows	251,100	280,672	62,835	70,417	72,588	74,832	76,698	83,548	84,071
	Outflows	245,546	273,839	63,449	68,538	69,463	72,389	75,073	80,845	81,626

Merchandise ²	Exports	98,731	113,207	25,867	28,535	29,058	29,747	32,783	36,486	36,437
	Imports	63,671	70,910	16,749	17,287	17,627	19,247	18,633	19,382	18,849

Services	Exports	92,703	101,750	22,417	25,926	26,353	27,054	25,822	29,603	30,225
	Imports	93,096	109,376	24,112	27,765	26,927	30,572	29,698	34,798	35,459

IFSC	Exports	25,483	27,001	6,514	6,815	6,795	6,877	7,173	7,909	7,778
	Imports	14,798	16,520	3,946	4,263	4,149	4,162	4,254	4,518	4,557
Non-IFSC	Exports	67,220	74,751	15,903	19,112	19,558	20,178	18,649	21,694	22,447
	Imports	78,299	92,857	20,165	23,503	22,778	26,411	25,444	30,281	30,902

Primary Income	Inflows	56,468	62,853	13,875	15,282	16,431	17,265	17,124	16,584	16,496
	Outflows	82,657	87,956	21,016	22,208	23,622	21,110	24,927	25,123	26,008

IFSC	Inflows	36,497	42,295	9,765	10,216	11,307	11,007	12,135	10,789	11,616
	Outflows	37,593	44,504	10,211	10,915	11,710	11,668	12,723	11,200	12,602
Non-IFSC	Inflows	19,969	20,559	4,110	5,066	5,125	6,258	4,988	5,794	4,880
	Outflows	45,064	43,452	10,805	11,293	11,912	9,442	12,205	13,923	13,406

Secondary Income	Inflows	3,200	2,861	676	673	746	766	970	876	914
	Outflows	6,122	5,597	1,572	1,278	1,287	1,460	1,815	1,542	1,310

IFSC ³	Inflows	2,697	2,369	571	557	618	623	735	736	786
	Outflows	2,697	2,369	571	557	618	623	735	736	786
Non-IFSC	Inflows	503	491	106	116	127	142	235	140	128
	Outflows	3,425	3,227	1,001	720	669	837	1,081	806	523

Balance on Current Account		5,556	6,833	-613	1,879	3,125	2,442	1,625	2,704	2,446

Balance on Capital Account		104	135	35	9	77	14	35	12	5

Financial Account ⁴
Direct investment	Abroad	21,863	32,511	1,479	5,669	17,796	7,567	47,912	19,770	16,744
	In Ireland	33,816	23,465	-3,431	8,420	16,070	2,406	8,851	11,921	4,616

IFSC	Abroad	3,046	-3,235	-3,667	-147	209	370	1,749	3,985	32
	In Ireland	17,134	5,119	-5,744	1,427	12,128	-2,692	4,985	3,513	-16,118
Non-IFSC	Abroad	18,816	35,747	5,146	5,817	17,587	7,197	46,164	15,785	16,712
	In Ireland	16,681	18,346	2,313	6,993	3,942	5,098	3,867	8,408	20,734

Portfolio investment	Assets	98,516	152,773	47,265	31,474	40,367	33,667	46,992	10,740	1,476
	Liabilities	52,525	172,904	66,372	27,438	51,500	27,594	116,122	-8,267	28,951

IFSC	Assets	93,884	145,651	49,536	26,617	39,588	29,910	47,411	11,130	6,139
	Liabilities	60,875	143,765	62,630	27,877	31,579	21,679	69,316	-13,373	28,535
Non-IFSC	Assets	4,633	7,124	-2,271	4,858	779	3,758	-419	-390	-4,662
	Liabilities	-8,350	29,139	3,742	-439	19,921	5,915	46,807	5,106	416

Other investment ⁵	Assets	-49,327	87,530	40,283	2,605	14,104	30,538	38,514	-28,560	-34,384
	Liabilities	-22,891	69,625	28,009	-419	7,517	34,518	5,128	-5,161	-49,476

IFSC	Assets	-35,780	95,131	45,958	4,505	15,471	29,197	38,925	-30,352	-23,047
	Liabilities	-4,815	112,094	43,031	10,387	15,028	43,648	17,212	532	-24,872
Non-IFSC	Assets	-13,547	-7,601	-5,675	-1,900	-1,367	1,341	-412	1,792	-11,338
	Liabilities	-18,075	-42,468	-15,022	-10,805	-7,511	-9,130	-12,085	-5,692	-24,604

Reserve Assets		10	136	0	1	2	133	209	307	-25

Balance on Financial Account		7,611	6,956	-1,923	4,310	-2,819	7,388	3,526	3,764	-280
Net errors and omissions		1,953	-13	-1,345	2,422	-6,021	4,931	1,866	1,048	-2,731
¹From the start of 2000 new international financial service projects are no longer subject to the earlier certification and licensing procedures
in operation for location in the IFSC and such projects can, therefore, locate anywhere in Ireland. Additions to existing IFSC projects, however,
are still subject to the formal procedures. For statistical analysis purposes this table still shows the 'IFSC/non-IFSC' breakdown and
the activities of all international financial service enterprises are covered under the IFSC heading.
²Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.
³Secondary income flows to and from IFSC enterprises relate solely to non-life insurance transactions (see Background Notes).
⁴See footnote 1 on Table 2b.
⁵Includes financial derivatives; in the case of liabilities this category also includes life insurance liabilities to non-residents. Occasionally includes
large capital transactions which cannot be shown in the Capital Account Balance due to confidentiality constraints.

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Table 4a Current and Capital Accounts showing geographical¹ detail										€ million
		2013	2014	2014				2015
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3

Current Account - Total	Inflows	251,100	280,672	62,835	70,417	72,588	74,832	76,698	83,548	84,071
	Outflows	245,546	273,839	63,449	68,538	69,463	72,389	75,073	80,845	81,626

Merchandise ²	Exports	98,731	113,207	25,867	28,535	29,058	29,747	32,783	36,486	36,437
	Imports	63,671	70,910	16,749	17,287	17,627	19,247	18,633	19,382	18,849
EMU	Exports	38,186	40,416	9,148	9,522	10,660	11,086	11,876	13,533	12,934
	Imports	17,955	21,322	5,143	5,243	5,198	5,738	5,620	6,088	5,564
Non-EMU	Exports	60,545	72,791	16,719	19,013	18,398	18,661	20,907	22,953	23,502
	Imports	45,717	49,588	11,606	12,044	12,429	13,509	13,013	13,294	13,285
EU	Exports	58,467	62,359	14,329	15,123	16,556	16,351	17,997	19,748	19,276
	Imports	44,022	48,774	11,681	12,007	11,833	13,253	12,525	13,339	12,814
Non-EU	Exports	40,263	50,846	11,538	13,411	12,502	13,395	14,787	16,738	17,161
	Imports	19,649	22,136	5,069	5,280	5,794	5,993	6,108	6,042	6,035

Services	Exports	92,703	101,750	22,417	25,926	26,353	27,054	25,822	29,603	30,225
	Imports	93,096	109,376	24,112	27,765	26,927	30,572	29,698	34,798	35,459
EMU	Exports	28,746	32,392	7,053	8,576	8,213	8,550	8,143	9,047	9,042
	Imports	33,485	33,845	7,668	8,979	8,425	8,773	8,140	10,437	9,486
Non-EMU	Exports	63,957	69,359	15,364	17,350	18,140	18,505	17,679	20,556	21,183
	Imports	59,612	75,532	16,444	18,786	18,502	21,800	21,558	24,361	25,972
EU	Exports	51,589	58,282	12,455	15,335	15,089	15,403	14,127	16,615	17,250
	Imports	44,642	46,566	10,493	12,290	11,591	12,192	11,258	13,615	13,153
Non-EU	Exports	41,115	43,470	9,962	10,591	11,265	11,652	11,694	12,988	12,976
	Imports	48,454	62,810	13,618	15,476	15,336	18,380	18,439	21,183	22,306

Primary Income	Inflows	56,468	62,853	13,875	15,282	16,431	17,265	17,124	16,584	16,496
	Outflows	82,657	87,956	21,016	22,208	23,622	21,110	24,927	25,123	26,008
EMU	Inflows	20,236	23,052	5,323	5,811	5,877	6,041	5,824	6,225	5,379
	Outflows	31,616	31,653	8,094	7,127	8,786	7,646	9,214	9,495	9,966
Non-EMU	Inflows	36,231	39,801	8,552	9,471	10,554	11,224	11,300	10,359	11,116
	Outflows	51,039	56,304	12,922	15,081	14,836	13,465	15,714	15,628	16,042
EU	Inflows	31,322	36,827	8,225	9,056	9,317	10,229	9,414	9,695	9,250
	Outflows	46,461	51,327	12,206	12,168	14,100	12,853	14,935	14,572	15,817
Non-EU	Inflows	25,145	26,027	5,651	6,226	7,114	7,036	7,710	6,889	7,246
	Outflows	36,196	36,630	8,810	10,040	9,522	8,258	9,992	10,551	10,191

Secondary Income	Inflows	3,200	2,861	676	673	746	766	970	876	914
	Outflows	6,122	5,597	1,572	1,278	1,287	1,460	1,815	1,542	1,310
EMU	Inflows	1,072	1,033	253	211	291	278	276	306	261
	Outflows	1,158	1,117	274	232	312	299	305	329	282
Non-EMU	Inflows	2,129	1,829	424	462	455	488	693	569	653
	Outflows	4,965	4,479	1,298	1,045	975	1,161	1,510	1,212	1,027
EU	Inflows	2,359	2,063	499	440	569	555	712	729	681
	Outflows	4,604	4,221	1,266	936	936	1,083	1,448	1,203	1,029
Non-EU	Inflows	841	797	177	233	177	210	258	147	233
	Outflows	1,518	1,375	306	341	351	377	367	338	281

Balance on Current Account		5,556	6,833	-613	1,879	3,125	2,442	1,625	2,704	2,446

Balance on Capital Account		104	135	35	9	77	14	35	12	5

¹The term ‘EMU’ means the area represented by the 18 Member States participating in Monetary Union since the enlargement of the Euro area on
1 January 2014 to include Latvia. The term ‘EU’ relates to transactions between residents of Ireland and other residents of the EU28 area.
All data shown on this table relates to EMU18 and EU28.
²Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.

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Table 4b Financial Account¹ showing geographical² detail										€ million
		2013	2014	2014				2015
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3

Direct Investment	Abroad	21,863	32,511	1,479	5,669	17,796	7,567	47,912	19,770	16,744
	In Ireland	33,816	23,465	-3,431	8,420	16,070	2,406	8,851	11,921	4,616

EMU	Abroad	4,450	40,260	1,143	886	17,730	20,501	42,715	3,270	138
	In Ireland	18,871	16,684	-3,202	5,053	7,985	6,848	-2,446	-147	3,927
Non-EMU	Abroad	17,412	-7,749	336	4,783	66	-12,934	5,197	16,500	16,607
	In Ireland	14,945	6,781	-229	3,367	8,085	-4,442	11,297	12,069	689
EU	Abroad	21,181	39,579	-1,551	-1,834	19,682	23,282	42,138	3,653	144
	In Ireland	20,005	13,625	-5,654	6,414	5,761	7,104	-1,959	-568	1,777
Non-EU	Abroad	680	-7,068	3,030	7,503	-1,886	-15,715	5,775	16,118	16,600
	In Ireland	13,811	9,841	2,223	2,006	10,310	-4,698	10,810	12,489	2,840

Portfolio Investment	Assets	98,516	152,773	47,265	31,474	40,367	33,667	46,992	10,740	1,476
	Liabilities	52,525	172,904	66,372	27,438	51,500	27,594	116,122	-8,267	28,951

EMU	Assets	19,554	33,492	23,136	4,584	5,736	36	26,111	-1,467	-4,450
	Liabilities	7,669	52,384	16,209	12,639	10,648	12,888	22,167	10,438	11,330
Non-EMU	Assets	78,962	119,282	24,129	26,891	34,631	33,631	20,881	12,207	5,927
	Liabilities	44,856	120,521	50,163	14,799	40,852	14,707	93,955	-18,705	17,621
EU	Assets	41,714	72,509	27,185	22,863	9,495	12,966	34,589	-7,421	-3,211
	Liabilities	37,620	123,684	39,054	39,971	28,718	15,941	67,906	-17,057	8,026
Non-EU	Assets	56,802	80,264	20,080	8,611	30,872	20,701	12,403	18,161	4,687
	Liabilities	14,906	49,221	27,318	-12,532	22,782	11,653	48,216	8,790	20,925

Other Investment ³	Assets	-49,327	87,530	40,283	2,605	14,104	30,538	38,514	-28,560	-34,384
	Liabilities	-22,891	69,625	28,009	-419	7,517	34,518	5,128	-5,161	-49,476

EMU	Assets	-13,755	24,640	6,053	22,444	191	-4,048	14,160	-8,836	11,947
	Liabilities	-32,676	-2,780	9,089	-5,763	-8,742	2,636	2,810	-8,698	-879
Non-EMU	Assets	-35,572	62,891	34,231	-19,839	13,913	34,586	24,353	-19,724	-46,331
	Liabilities	9,785	72,405	18,920	5,345	16,258	31,882	2,318	3,538	-48,596
EU	Assets	-24,521	45,793	15,667	8,610	9,035	12,481	7,524	-14,601	-11,237
	Liabilities	-22,437	41,357	16,867	-5,830	-1,171	31,491	9,795	-13,521	-22,727
Non-EU	Assets	-24,805	41,738	24,617	-6,005	5,069	18,057	30,989	-13,959	-23,147
	Liabilities	-452	28,269	11,142	5,412	8,688	3,027	-4,667	8,361	-26,749

Reserve Assets		10	136	0	1	2	133	209	307	-25

Balance on Financial Account		7,611	6,956	-1,923	4,310	-2,819	7,388	3,526	3,764	-280

Net errors and omissions		1,953	-13	-1,345	2,422	-6,021	4,931	1,866	1,048	-2,731
¹See footnote 1 on Table 2b.
²The term ‘EMU’ means the area represented by the 18 Member States participating in Monetary Union since the enlargement of the Euro area
on 1 January 2014 to include Latvia. The term ‘EU’ relates to transactions between residents of Ireland and other residents of the EU28 area.
All data shown on this table relates to EMU18 and EU28.
³Includes financial derivatives; in the case of liabilities this category also includes life insurance liabilities to non-residents. Occasionally includes large
capital transactions which cannot be shown in the Capital Account Balance due to confidentiality constraints.

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Background Notes

Definition

The balance of payments (BOP) is a statistical statement that summarises, for a specific time period, the economic transactions of the residents of an economy with the rest of the world.

The balance of payments presentation consists of three tables or accounts, the Current Account, the Capital Account and the Financial Account. The current account consists of trade in merchandise and services, as well as primary and secondary income account inflows and outflows. The capital account covers capital transfers and the acquisition and disposal of non-produced, non-financial assets. The financial account is concerned with transactions in foreign financial assets and liabilities, distinguishing the functional type of investment i.e. direct, portfolio and other investment (including transactions in financial derivatives) and reserve assets.

BOP transactions, in principle, should be recorded on an accruals basis using market valuation. In practice, the collection system (see below) is designed to adhere to this approach and, for the most part, the valuations reported are either market values or a close approximation.

For more detailed methodological information see the http://www.cso.ie/en/surveysandmethodology/balanceofpayments/methodologydocuments/BOP Quarterly Statistical Compilation Methodology (PDF 239KB)

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Quarter 3 2015

Current account surplus of €2.4bn in 3rd Quarter

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