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For more information on this release:

E-mail: bop@cso.ie Annette Hayes (+353) 1 498 4319 John Flanagan (+353) 1 498 4054

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

CSO statistical release, 09 March 2017, 11am

Balance of International Payments

Quarter 4 and Year 2016

				€ million
	Merchandise Balance	Invisibles Balance	Current Account Balance	Current Account Balance as % of GDP
Q4 2016	27,235	-38,367	-11,132	-15.4
Q4 2015	28,964	-21,796	7,167	10.4
Year 2016	102,985	-90,441	12,544	4.7
Year 2015	110,568	-84,410	26,157	10.2

Current account deficit of €11bn in Q4 2016

Balance of International payments Q4 2016 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 deficit in the fourth quarter of 2016 of €11,132m. This was largely related to an increase in research and development service imports in the quarter. For the year 2016, the current account surplus was €12,544m, a decrease of €13,613m on 2015. The annual services deficit increased by €11,968m while the merchandise surplus decreased €7,583m and income outflows were €5,937m lower than 2015 (see Table 1).

X-axis label	Merchandise	Services	Primary Income	Secondary Income	Balance on Current account
Q4 2014	9.521	-2.373	-5.513	-0.698	0.937
Q1 2015	26.225	-6.119	-14.691	-0.896	4.519
Q2 2015	26.481	-8.257	-9.956	-0.721	7.547
Q3 2015	28.898	-7.64	-13.813	-0.521	6.924
Q4 2015	28.964	-7.341	-13.455	-1	7.167
Q1 2016	26.574	-5.826	-11.132	-0.661	8.955
Q2 2016	24.667	-9.972	-9.501	-0.552	4.643
Q3 2016	24.509	-0.485	-13.22	-0.725	10.078
Q4 2016	27.235	-25.042	-12.561	-0.764	-11.132

Other points of note in the Quarter 4 2016 results are:

Current account (see Table 2a)

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2015, merchandise exports at €49,918m decreased by €2,598m while merchandise imports at €22,683m decreased by €869m.
Service imports at €61,451m were up €21,566m, largely driven by increases in Research and development payments. Service exports at €36,409m increased by €3,865m compared to the fourth quarter of 2015, mainly due to higher computer services exports.
Investment income earned abroad at €18,369m, increased by €2,750m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €32,089m increased by €2,022m.

Financial account (see Tables 2b and 3)

Direct investment in Ireland increased by €25,316m in the fourth quarter of 2016. This comprised an increase of €13,077m in reinvested earnings, an increase in equity of €44,015m and a decrease in other capital of €31,777m. Direct investment abroad increased by €8,643m in the quarter.
Portfolio investment in foreign assets increased €39,539m in the quarter. Investment in foreign equity increased €13,266m while investment in foreign debt instruments increased €26,273m. Portfolio investment in Ireland comprised increases of €45,451m in Irish equity and a reduction of €19,305m of Irish debt instruments in the quarter.
Other investment assets decreased by €26,867 in the fourth quarter of 2016 split between the activities of IFSC enterprises with an decrease of €33,307m and non-IFSC enterprises with an increase of €6,439m.

X-axis label	Direct Investment	Portfolio Investment	Other Investment	Reserve Assets	Balance on Financial Account
Q3 2014	0.468	-22.627	16.783	0.002	-5.374
Q4 2014	1.604	-2.41	1.775	0.133	1.103
Q1 2015	39.441	-80.28	44.475	0.108	3.744
Q2 2015	2.14	6.111	-4.563	0.307	3.996
Q3 2015	13.711	-26.919	22.105	-0.024	8.873
Q4 2015	-75.163	-18.65	99.881	0.103	6.171
Q1 2016	16.22	-2.979	-6.22	0.936	7.957
Q2 2016	14.261	5.157	-16.16	-0.212	3.046
Q3 2016	6.303	11.236	-6.902	0.37	11.008
Q4 2016	-16.673	13.393	-13.85	0.219	-16.912

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
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	-22,786	-1,769	-38,210	-6,026	340	37,660	-52,698	15,364	-1,472	-1,147	4,539
2006	Year	27,194	-12,313	-22,723	-2,063	-37,099	-9,905	299	15,841	-8,135	-16,635	-87	-9,016	590
2007	Year	28,698	-12,384	-26,630	-2,510	-41,524	-12,826	115	-1,621	7,283	-20,086	12	-14,413	-1,702
2008	Year	32,622	-16,468	-25,141	-2,729	-44,339	-11,716	119	23,288	45,749	-85,932	78	-16,817	-5,220
2009	Year	38,752	-15,823	-27,885	-2,948	-46,656	-7,904	14	-245	-22,626	19,433	-79	-3,517	4,373
2010	Year	41,288	-13,421	-27,178	-2,701	-43,300	-2,012	91	-16,318	-85,965	90,883	-5	-11,404	-9,484
2011	Year	41,257	-9,096	-32,312	-2,660	-44,067	-2,810	234	-18,698	-26,908	31,086	-329	-14,849	-12,272
2012	Year	36,896	-6,749	-32,143	-2,609	-41,501	-4,605	86	-18,957	-833	11,025	-12	-8,777	-4,257
2013	Year	34,506	-637	-27,093	-2,922	-30,652	3,855	-936	-12,996	45,576	-26,436	10	6,155	3,236
2014	Year	40,731	-6,127	-28,650	-2,750	-37,527	3,203	-6,769	3,031	-56,662	48,089	136	-5,404	-1,839
2015	Year	110,568	-29,357	-51,915	-3,138	-84,410	26,157	-1,255	-19,871	-119,738	161,898	494	22,784	-2,118
2016	Year	102,985	-41,325	-46,414	-2,702	-90,441	12,544	-5,560	20,111	26,807	-43,132	1,313	5,099	-1,885

2010	Quarter 1	10,235	-2,824	-7,978	-879	-11,681	-1,446	50	-4,772	-19,821	31,668	-32	7,043	8,439
	Quarter 2	10,555	-3,342	-8,026	-590	-11,957	-1,402	4	-3,249	8,568	-18,338	19	-13,001	-11,602
	Quarter 3	11,985	-2,955	-7,152	-704	-10,811	1,174	14	1,178	19,581	-25,745	76	-4,910	-6,098
	Quarter 4	8,513	-4,300	-4,022	-528	-8,850	-337	23	-9,475	-94,293	103,299	-68	-537	-222
2011	Quarter 1	10,624	-2,926	-8,278	-841	-12,046	-1,422	24	-8,453	-7,063	11,286	-65	-4,295	-2,897
	Quarter 2	9,576	-1,580	-8,820	-513	-10,913	-1,336	1	-7,601	-22,344	27,157	29	-2,759	-1,424
	Quarter 3	11,547	-1,862	-8,307	-641	-10,810	736	-1	-6,802	19,456	-16,652	-24	-4,022	-4,757
	Quarter 4	9,510	-2,729	-6,906	-664	-10,299	-789	210	4,158	-16,957	9,295	-269	-3,772	-3,194
2012	Quarter 1	8,969	-1,791	-8,885	-814	-11,490	-2,522	61	-12,780	44,957	-32,626	-12	-461	2,001
	Quarter 2	9,275	-2,571	-8,400	-603	-11,574	-2,299	1	3,692	-33,320	21,009	6	-8,614	-6,316
	Quarter 3	10,072	-759	-8,453	-643	-9,855	218	5	-13,837	-6,315	17,833	-1	-2,319	-2,542
	Quarter 4	8,580	-1,628	-6,405	-549	-8,582	-2	19	3,968	-6,155	4,809	-5	2,617	2,600
2013	Quarter 1	7,726	-533	-7,213	-828	-8,574	-848	-207	-4,332	7,165	627	0	3,460	4,515
	Quarter 2	9,638	-545	-8,170	-699	-9,414	225	-244	-7,519	12,668	-5,761	1	-611	-591
	Quarter 3	9,816	646	-7,157	-663	-7,174	2,642	-259	-573	8,371	-5,948	4	1,854	-529
	Quarter 4	7,326	-205	-4,553	-732	-5,490	1,836	-226	-572	17,372	-15,354	5	1,452	-159
2014	Quarter 1	8,939	-2,129	-7,405	-899	-10,433	-1,495	-1,691	3,678	-19,858	10,516	0	-5,664	-2,479
	Quarter 2	11,286	-1,562	-7,936	-608	-10,106	1,181	-1,717	-2,719	-11,767	19,015	1	4,531	5,067
	Quarter 3	10,985	-63	-7,796	-545	-8,404	2,580	-1,649	468	-22,627	16,783	2	-5,374	-6,305
	Quarter 4	9,521	-2,373	-5,513	-698	-8,584	937	-1,712	1,604	-2,410	1,775	133	1,103	1,878
2015	Quarter 1	26,225	-6,119	-14,691	-896	-21,706	4,519	-294	39,441	-80,280	44,475	108	3,744	-480
	Quarter 2	26,481	-8,257	-9,956	-721	-18,934	7,547	-317	2,140	6,111	-4,563	307	3,996	-3,234
	Quarter 3	28,898	-7,640	-13,813	-521	-21,974	6,924	-324	13,711	-26,919	22,105	-24	8,873	2,273
	Quarter 4	28,964	-7,341	-13,455	-1,000	-21,796	7,167	-320	-75,163	-18,650	99,881	103	6,171	-677
2016	Quarter 1	26,574	-5,826	-11,132	-661	-17,619	8,955	-2,368	16,220	-2,979	-6,220	936	7,957	1,369
	Quarter 2	24,667	-9,972	-9,501	-552	-20,025	4,643	-1,236	14,261	5,157	-16,160	-212	3,046	-361
	Quarter 3	24,509	-485	-13,220	-725	-14,430	10,078	-392	6,303	11,236	-6,902	370	11,008	1,322
	Quarter 4	27,235	-25,042	-12,561	-764	-38,367	-11,132	-1,564	-16,673	13,393	-13,850	219	-16,912	-4,215
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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Open in Excel: Balance of International Payments Q4 2016 Table 1 (XLS 42KB)

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Show Table 2(a) Current and Capital Accounts

Table 2a Current and Capital Accounts											€ million
		2015	2016	2015				2016
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4
Current Account
Merchandise¹	Exports	195,592	186,251	46,478	47,201	49,397	52,516	45,796	45,661	44,876	49,918
	Imports	85,024	83,268	20,253	20,720	20,499	23,552	19,222	20,995	20,368	22,683

of which: Merchanting (net export)	Exports	7,727	6,720	2,309	1,882	1,925	1,611	1,701	1,527	1,915	1,577

Services	Exports	121,605	132,566	27,329	30,552	31,180	32,544	29,211	32,237	34,709	36,409
	Imports	150,963	173,891	33,449	38,809	38,820	39,885	35,037	42,208	35,195	61,451
Repairs and Processing	Exports	1,110	1,394	222	322	323	243	226	232	462	474
	Imports	1,400	1,141	325	399	367	309	241	277	301	322
Transport	Exports	5,936	6,127	842	1,549	2,305	1,240	975	1,552	2,356	1,244
	Imports	2,489	2,276	599	611	607	672	532	556	571	617
Tourism and Travel²	Exports	4,320	4,685	613	1,228	1,582	897	716	1,296	1,718	955
	Imports	5,121	5,522	908	1,254	1,793	1,166	1,071	1,350	1,917	1,184
Insurance	Exports	10,300	9,374	2,533	2,691	2,565	2,511	2,363	2,315	2,286	2,410
	Imports	7,090	6,724	1,765	1,819	1,827	1,679	1,904	1,594	1,622	1,604
Financial services	Exports	11,042	11,314	2,496	2,739	2,865	2,942	2,606	2,739	2,854	3,115
	Imports	6,991	7,016	1,590	1,705	1,769	1,927	1,675	1,679	1,787	1,875
Royalties/Licences	Exports	6,723	7,528	1,648	1,703	1,721	1,651	1,669	1,827	1,911	2,121
	Imports	67,765	68,745	15,398	17,239	16,687	18,441	17,492	17,216	16,771	17,266
Communications	Exports	668	641	171	169	164	164	159	162	162	158
	Imports	1,021	1,090	257	261	242	261	285	255	276	274
Computer services³	Exports	57,409	63,763	13,104	14,301	13,772	16,232	14,675	15,483	15,344	18,261
	Imports	916	782	215	231	239	231	196	199	175	212
Business services	Exports	21,958	25,681	5,299	5,296	5,275	6,088	5,425	6,138	7,055	7,063
	Imports	57,902	80,329	12,326	15,224	15,221	15,131	11,574	19,017	11,708	38,030
Research and development	Exports	1,758	2,569	410	401	477	470	554	898	587	530
	Imports	19,701	*	3,711	5,228	6,002	4,760	2,979	9,455	2,881	*
Operational leasing	Exports	11,751	12,141	2,835	2,888	2,932	3,096	2,901	3,002	3,048	3,190
	Imports	770	941	149	167	215	239	142	291	172	336
Misc. business services⁴	Exports	8,447	10,972	2,053	2,007	1,866	2,521	1,970	2,238	3,421	3,343
	Imports	37,432	*	8,466	9,828	9,005	10,133	8,452	9,272	8,654	*
Other services n.e.s.	Exports	2,139	2,060	401	552	609	577	397	493	561	609
	Imports	266	264	66	66	67	67	67	63	67	67

Primary Income	Inflows	61,665	68,282	15,369	15,023	14,419	16,854	15,874	17,822	14,812	19,774
	Outflows	113,581	114,696	30,060	24,979	28,233	30,309	27,006	27,323	28,032	32,335
Compensation of Employees	Inflows	542	537	135	136	135	136	136	130	136	135
	Outflows	633	617	156	165	163	149	154	155	156	152
Investment Income	Inflows	59,553	66,392	15,211	14,834	13,889	15,619	15,718	17,649	14,656	18,369
	Outflows	112,635	113,776	29,832	24,735	28,001	30,067	26,783	27,097	27,807	32,089
Direct investment income	Inflows	15,771	18,809	3,804	4,500	2,845	4,622	4,903	4,461	3,129	6,316
	Outflows	59,705	57,474	16,144	11,915	15,097	16,549	14,247	11,170	14,186	17,871
Income on equity	Inflows	12,140	15,568	2,898	3,600	1,973	3,669	4,010	3,703	2,410	5,445
	Outflows	53,947	51,870	14,752	10,373	13,684	15,138	12,900	9,813	12,803	16,354
Dividends & distributed	Inflows	1,277	1,724	*	*	88	293	159	*	94	*
branch profits	Outflows	15,166	19,927	4,764	4,179	2,680	3,543	7,956	4,028	4,666	3,277
Reinvested earnings	Inflows	10,863	13,846	*	*	1,885	3,376	3,851	*	2,317	*
	Outflows	38,781	31,943	9,988	6,194	11,004	11,595	4,944	5,785	8,137	13,077
Income on debt	Inflows	3,631	3,239	906	900	872	953	893	757	718	871
	Outflows	5,758	5,606	1,392	1,542	1,413	1,411	1,348	1,357	1,383	1,518
Portfolio investment income	Inflows	36,157	40,209	9,124	8,404	9,383	9,246	9,125	11,171	9,937	9,976
	Outflows	44,430	48,601	11,088	10,694	11,294	11,354	10,891	14,018	11,670	12,022
Income on equity	Inflows	10,324	12,783	2,733	2,268	2,969	2,354	2,564	4,465	3,108	2,646
	Outflows	35,740	40,456	8,871	8,584	9,127	9,158	8,698	11,991	9,708	10,059
Income on debt	Inflows	25,833	27,424	6,391	6,136	6,414	6,892	6,561	6,705	6,829	7,329
	Outflows	8,690	8,143	2,217	2,110	2,167	2,196	2,192	2,026	1,962	1,963
Other investment income	Inflows	7,624	7,375	2,282	1,930	1,661	1,751	1,690	2,017	1,591	2,077
	Outflows	8,499	7,702	2,599	2,126	1,610	2,164	1,645	1,910	1,951	2,196
Other primary income	Inflows	1,571	1,354	22	54	395	1,100	21	43	20	1,270
	Outflows	312	303	72	78	69	93	69	71	69	94

Secondary Income	Inflows	4,010	4,572	1,081	988	977	964	1,147	1,064	1,075	1,286
	Outflows	7,149	7,273	1,977	1,710	1,498	1,964	1,808	1,615	1,800	2,050

Current Account - Total	Inflows	382,873	391,671	90,257	93,764	95,974	102,878	92,028	96,784	95,472	107,387
	Outflows	356,716	379,129	85,739	86,217	89,050	95,710	83,073	92,142	85,395	118,519

Current Account Balance		26,157	12,544	4,519	7,547	6,924	7,167	8,955	4,643	10,078	-11,132

Capital Account Balance		-1,255	-5,560	-294	-317	-324	-320	-2,368	-1,236	-392	-1,564

Memorandum Item:
Government Income	Inflows	129	76	15	62	18	34	12	20	19	25
	Outflows	4,397	3,927	1,121	1,080	1,104	1,092	1,066	998	978	885
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 were 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 Q4 2016 Table 2(a) (XLS 43KB)

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Show Table 2(b) Financial Account

Table 2b Financial Account¹											€ million
		2015	2016	2015				2016
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4

Direct Investment	Abroad	149,937	40,274	51,969	24,627	18,595	54,746	33,299	-2,759	1,091	8,643
	In Ireland	169,809	20,163	12,528	22,487	4,884	129,910	17,079	-17,020	-5,212	25,316

Equity	Abroad	113,321	42,178	50,585	21,372	-1,864	43,228	25,885	13,406	-2,411	5,298
	In Ireland	116,845	100,562	7,389	25,563	24,833	59,060	43,517	4,584	8,446	44,015
Reinvested Earnings	Abroad	10,863	13,846	*	*	1,885	3,376	3,851	*	2,317	*
	In Ireland	38,781	31,943	9,988	6,194	11,004	11,595	4,944	5,785	8,137	13,077
Other Capital	Abroad	25,754	-15,751	*	*	18,574	8,142	3,563	*	1,185	*
	In Ireland	14,181	-112,341	-4,850	-9,271	-30,953	59,255	-31,381	-27,388	-21,795	-31,777

Portfolio Investment	Assets	127,682	115,308	46,964	10,782	2,298	67,638	12,620	28,284	34,865	39,539
	Liabilities	247,421	88,502	127,244	4,672	29,217	86,288	15,599	23,128	23,629	26,146

Equity	Assets	46,379	8,879	14,609	22,106	6,978	2,686	221	-16,297	11,689	13,266
	Liabilities	186,857	143,654	106,339	-8,455	20,304	68,669	14,867	53,731	29,605	45,451
Debt Instruments	Assets	81,302	106,429	32,355	-11,324	-4,681	64,952	12,399	44,581	23,176	26,273
	Liabilities	60,563	-55,153	20,905	13,127	8,912	17,619	732	-30,604	-5,976	-19,305
Bonds and notes	Assets	65,277	82,586	5,303	13,805	14,356	31,813	15,028	37,795	14,730	15,033
	Liabilities	56,855	-50,489	20,444	13,388	6,264	16,759	584	-30,088	-6,161	-14,824
Money market instruments	Assets	16,025	23,842	27,052	-25,129	-19,037	33,139	-2,629	6,786	8,445	11,240
	Liabilities	3,707	-4,664	461	-262	2,648	860	148	-516	185	-4,481

Other Investment	Assets	87,335	-71,342	52,171	-20,780	-34,777	90,721	-18,832	-23,930	-1,713	-26,867
	Liabilities	-74,564	-28,210	7,696	-16,218	-56,882	-9,160	-12,612	-7,770	5,189	-13,017

Loans, currency and deposits	Assets	72,098	-22,724	33,837	-11,055	915	48,401	-2,835	13,496	-14,138	-19,247
	Liabilities	-30,455	7,863	-26,505	-8,354	-17,823	22,227	10,562	708	2,228	-5,635
Other ²	Assets	15,237	-48,619	18,334	-9,725	-35,692	42,320	-15,997	-37,426	12,425	-7,621
	Liabilities	-44,108	-36,072	34,202	-7,864	-39,059	-31,387	-23,174	-8,477	2,962	-7,383

Reserve Assets		494	1,313	108	307	-24	103	936	-212	370	219

Monetary gold		1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Special drawing rights		2	19	1	0	0	1	0	0	4	15
Reserve position in the IMF		1	680	1	0	0	0	687	-7	0	0
Foreign exchange		0	416	1	-1	1	-1	0	2	352	62
Other		490	198	105	308	-25	102	249	-207	15	141

Balance on Financial Account		22,784	5,099	3,744	3,996	8,873	6,171	7,957	3,046	11,008	-16,912

Net errors and omissions		-2,118	-1,885	-480	-3,234	2,273	-677	1,369	-361	1,322	-4,215
Memorandum Item:
Government financial	Assets	-1,642	-918	-763	-685	-114	-80	-822	-100	516	-512
transactions	Liabilities	-619	-6,994	744	1,356	10	-2,729	2,787	-7,516	623	-2,888
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
		2015	2016	2015				2016
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4
Current Account - Total	Inflows	382,873	391,671	90,257	93,764	95,974	102,878	92,028	96,784	95,472	107,387
	Outflows	356,716	379,129	85,739	86,217	89,050	95,710	83,073	92,142	85,395	118,519

Merchandise ²	Exports	195,592	186,251	46,478	47,201	49,397	52,516	45,796	45,661	44,876	49,918
	Imports	85,024	83,268	20,253	20,720	20,499	23,552	19,222	20,995	20,368	22,683

Services	Exports	121,605	132,566	27,329	30,552	31,180	32,544	29,211	32,237	34,709	36,409
	Imports	150,963	173,891	33,449	38,809	38,820	39,885	35,037	42,208	35,195	61,451

IFSC	Exports	32,745	33,175	7,681	8,308	8,216	8,540	7,914	8,202	8,261	8,798
	Imports	17,278	16,830	4,083	4,346	4,533	4,316	4,172	4,100	4,092	4,466
Non-IFSC	Exports	88,860	99,391	19,648	22,244	22,964	24,004	21,297	24,035	26,448	27,611
	Imports	133,685	157,061	29,366	34,463	34,287	35,569	30,865	38,108	31,103	56,985

Primary Income	Inflows	61,665	68,282	15,369	15,023	14,419	16,854	15,874	17,822	14,812	19,774
	Outflows	113,581	114,696	30,060	24,979	28,233	30,309	27,006	27,323	28,032	32,335

IFSC	Inflows	46,822	51,437	12,187	10,946	11,703	11,986	11,767	14,073	12,412	13,185
	Outflows	51,727	55,674	13,664	11,962	13,348	12,753	12,777	15,130	13,834	13,933
Non-IFSC	Inflows	14,843	16,844	3,182	4,077	2,716	4,868	4,106	3,749	2,400	6,589
	Outflows	61,854	59,023	16,396	13,017	14,885	17,556	14,230	12,193	14,198	18,402

Secondary Income	Inflows	4,010	4,572	1,081	988	977	964	1,147	1,064	1,075	1,286
	Outflows	7,149	7,273	1,977	1,710	1,498	1,964	1,808	1,615	1,800	2,050

IFSC ³	Inflows	3,234	3,858	815	816	818	785	952	885	935	1,086
	Outflows	3,234	3,858	815	816	818	785	952	885	935	1,086
Non-IFSC	Inflows	774	715	266	172	158	178	195	179	140	201
	Outflows	3,912	3,416	1,162	893	679	1,178	856	731	865	964

Balance on Current Account		26,157	12,544	4,519	7,547	6,924	7,167	8,955	4,643	10,078	-11,132

Balance on Capital Account		-1,255	-5,560	-294	-317	-324	-320	-2,368	-1,236	-392	-1,564

Financial Account ⁴
Direct investment	Abroad	149,937	40,274	51,969	24,627	18,595	54,746	33,299	-2,759	1,091	8,643
	In Ireland	169,809	20,163	12,528	22,487	4,884	129,910	17,079	-17,020	-5,212	25,316

IFSC	Abroad	52,592	15,823	1,844	3,774	-227	47,201	14,422	110	170	1,121
	In Ireland	70,599	-220	5,075	6,625	-15,417	74,316	19,671	-16,927	15,431	-18,395
Non-IFSC	Abroad	97,345	24,452	50,125	20,853	18,822	7,545	18,878	-2,869	921	7,522
	In Ireland	99,210	20,384	7,453	15,862	20,301	55,594	-2,591	-93	-20,643	43,711

Portfolio investment	Assets	127,682	115,308	46,964	10,782	2,298	67,638	12,620	28,284	34,865	39,539
	Liabilities	247,421	88,502	127,244	4,672	29,217	86,288	15,599	23,128	23,629	26,146

IFSC	Assets	131,711	109,076	47,352	11,141	7,140	66,078	11,958	26,851	32,310	37,957
	Liabilities	200,974	91,663	80,353	185	28,961	91,475	1,381	32,193	27,275	30,814
Non-IFSC	Assets	-4,029	6,231	-388	-359	-4,842	1,560	662	1,433	2,555	1,581
	Liabilities	46,445	-3,160	46,891	4,486	255	-5,187	14,218	-9,065	-3,646	-4,667

Other investment ⁵	Assets	87,335	-71,342	52,171	-20,780	-34,777	90,721	-18,832	-23,930	-1,713	-26,867
	Liabilities	-74,564	-28,210	7,696	-16,218	-56,882	-9,160	-12,612	-7,770	5,189	-13,017

IFSC	Assets	50,914	-63,084	47,941	-20,848	-26,361	50,182	-9,412	-23,568	3,203	-33,307
	Liabilities	-31,827	-33,265	18,617	-12,359	-36,899	-1,186	-8,747	-10,995	3,633	-17,156
Non-IFSC	Assets	36,421	-8,258	4,230	68	-8,416	40,539	-9,419	-362	-4,916	6,439
	Liabilities	-42,737	5,056	-10,921	-3,858	-19,984	-7,974	-3,865	3,225	1,557	4,139

Reserve Assets		494	1,313	108	307	-24	103	936	-212	370	219

Balance on Financial Account		22,784	5,099	3,744	3,996	8,873	6,171	7,957	3,046	11,008	-16,912
Net errors and omissions		-2,118	-1,885	-480	-3,234	2,273	-677	1,369	-361	1,322	-4,215
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
		2015	2016	2015				2016
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4

Current Account - Total	Inflows	382,873	391,671	90,257	93,764	95,974	102,878	92,028	96,784	95,472	107,387
	Outflows	356,716	379,129	85,739	86,217	89,050	95,710	83,073	92,142	85,395	118,519

Merchandise ²	Exports	195,592	186,251	46,478	47,201	49,397	52,516	45,796	45,661	44,876	49,918
	Imports	85,024	83,268	20,253	20,720	20,499	23,552	19,222	20,995	20,368	22,683
EMU	Exports	67,450	60,340	15,648	16,617	17,201	17,984	15,966	14,531	14,529	15,314
	Imports	27,433	29,659	6,376	6,616	6,282	8,159	6,539	7,298	7,630	8,192
Non-EMU	Exports	128,142	125,912	30,830	30,584	32,196	34,532	29,830	31,131	30,347	34,604
	Imports	57,592	53,607	13,877	14,104	14,217	15,394	12,683	13,696	12,737	14,491
EU	Exports	101,624	91,140	23,766	24,728	25,998	27,132	23,712	22,106	21,655	23,667
	Imports	57,354	57,611	13,509	13,962	13,609	16,274	13,489	14,506	13,947	15,669
Non-EU	Exports	93,968	95,111	22,712	22,473	23,399	25,384	22,083	23,556	23,221	26,251
	Imports	27,672	25,655	6,745	6,758	6,891	7,278	5,732	6,488	6,421	7,014

Services	Exports	121,605	132,566	27,329	30,552	31,180	32,544	29,211	32,237	34,709	36,409
	Imports	150,963	173,891	33,449	38,809	38,820	39,885	35,037	42,208	35,195	61,451
EMU	Exports	35,647	36,450	8,422	9,012	8,991	9,222	7,970	8,738	10,493	9,249
	Imports	39,830	40,056	8,792	10,600	9,948	10,490	8,937	9,952	10,117	11,050
Non-EMU	Exports	85,959	96,117	18,907	21,540	22,190	23,322	21,242	23,499	24,216	27,160
	Imports	111,132	133,835	24,656	28,209	28,872	29,395	26,100	32,256	25,078	50,401
EU	Exports	65,641	67,558	14,492	16,648	17,307	17,194	15,036	16,405	19,104	17,013
	Imports	53,655	52,688	12,254	13,810	13,510	14,081	12,206	12,938	13,247	14,297
Non-EU	Exports	55,964	65,008	12,837	13,904	13,873	15,350	14,175	15,832	15,606	19,395
	Imports	97,307	121,204	21,194	24,999	25,310	25,804	22,831	29,271	21,948	47,154

Primary Income	Inflows	61,665	68,282	15,369	15,023	14,419	16,854	15,874	17,822	14,812	19,774
	Outflows	113,581	114,696	30,060	24,979	28,233	30,309	27,006	27,323	28,032	32,335
EMU	Inflows	24,091	26,582	6,803	6,355	4,700	6,233	7,262	6,079	5,355	7,886
	Outflows	38,830	39,594	9,634	9,464	9,953	9,779	9,432	9,427	10,741	9,994
Non-EMU	Inflows	37,574	41,701	8,566	8,668	9,719	10,621	8,613	11,743	9,457	11,888
	Outflows	74,750	75,102	20,426	15,515	18,279	20,530	17,574	17,896	17,291	22,341
EU	Inflows	39,715	42,734	10,333	9,765	8,591	11,026	10,872	10,158	8,844	12,860
	Outflows	61,403	64,388	15,784	14,651	15,917	15,051	15,306	16,480	16,770	15,832
Non-EU	Inflows	21,950	25,549	5,036	5,258	5,828	5,828	5,002	7,665	5,968	6,914
	Outflows	52,178	50,309	14,276	10,328	12,316	15,258	11,700	10,844	11,262	16,503

Secondary Income	Inflows	4,010	4,572	1,081	988	977	964	1,147	1,064	1,075	1,286
	Outflows	7,149	7,273	1,977	1,710	1,498	1,964	1,808	1,615	1,800	2,050
EMU	Inflows	1,295	1,531	336	366	321	272	353	373	335	470
	Outflows	1,475	1,709	382	406	361	326	386	459	368	496
Non-EMU	Inflows	2,714	3,039	745	622	656	691	793	691	739	816
	Outflows	5,672	5,565	1,595	1,304	1,136	1,637	1,422	1,157	1,432	1,554
EU	Inflows	3,040	3,488	801	818	769	652	912	830	819	927
	Outflows	5,604	5,740	1,590	1,351	1,168	1,495	1,474	1,328	1,418	1,520
Non-EU	Inflows	970	1,082	280	171	207	312	234	234	255	359
	Outflows	1,545	1,533	388	359	330	468	334	287	382	530

Balance on Current Account		26,157	12,544	4,519	7,547	6,924	7,167	8,955	4,643	10,078	-11,132

Balance on Capital Account		-1,255	-5,560	-294	-317	-324	-320	-2,368	-1,236	-392	-1,564

¹The term ‘EMU’ means the area represented by the 19 Member States participating in Monetary Union since the enlargement of the Euro area on 1 January 2015 to include
Lithuania.The term ‘EU’ relates to transactions between residents of Ireland and other residents of the EU-28 area. All data shown on this table relates to EMU-19 and EU-28.
²Adjusted for balance of payments purposes

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Table 4b Financial Account¹ showing geographical² detail											€ million
		2015	2016	2015				2016
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4

Direct Investment	Abroad	149,937	40,274	51,969	24,627	18,595	54,746	33,299	-2,759	1,091	8,643
	In Ireland	169,809	20,163	12,528	22,487	4,884	129,910	17,079	-17,020	-5,212	25,316

EMU	Abroad	61,461	8,858	48,015	7,934	3,554	1,958	13,828	-6,418	-169	1,617
	In Ireland	40,537	-33,934	-1,740	-962	14,297	28,942	-5,473	-5,882	-2,088	-20,491
Non-EMU	Abroad	88,477	31,416	3,955	16,693	15,041	52,788	19,471	3,659	1,260	7,026
	In Ireland	129,272	54,096	14,268	23,449	-9,413	100,968	22,552	-11,138	-3,124	45,806
EU	Abroad	63,241	16,995	46,589	7,469	2,455	6,728	20,872	-6,408	246	2,285
	In Ireland	37,266	-31,711	2,581	2,431	16,254	16,000	-34,686	1,441	-5,840	7,374
Non-EU	Abroad	86,696	23,279	5,380	17,158	16,140	48,018	12,427	3,649	845	6,358
	In Ireland	132,542	51,874	9,947	20,056	-11,370	113,909	51,766	-18,461	627	17,942

Portfolio Investment	Assets	127,682	115,308	46,964	10,782	2,298	67,638	12,620	28,284	34,865	39,539
	Liabilities	247,421	88,502	127,244	4,672	29,217	86,288	15,599	23,128	23,629	26,146

EMU	Assets	34,754	13,615	26,797	-2,088	-4,964	15,009	-466	-3,805	11,632	6,254
	Liabilities	101,699	25,230	30,403	19,157	16,314	35,825	10,916	-3,008	16,914	408
Non-EMU	Assets	92,927	101,693	20,167	12,870	7,261	52,629	13,086	32,090	23,233	33,284
	Liabilities	145,722	63,273	96,841	-14,485	12,903	50,463	4,683	26,136	6,715	25,739
EU	Assets	62,473	45,622	35,105	-8,118	-3,740	39,226	1,222	5,277	17,630	21,493
	Liabilities	169,115	69,465	78,004	-4,960	9,582	86,489	9,862	11,991	26,822	20,790
Non-EU	Assets	65,210	69,687	11,859	18,901	6,038	28,412	11,398	23,008	17,235	18,046
	Liabilities	78,306	19,038	49,240	9,632	19,635	-201	5,737	11,137	-3,193	5,357

Other Investment ³	Assets	87,335	-71,342	52,171	-20,780	-34,777	90,721	-18,832	-23,930	-1,713	-26,867
	Liabilities	-74,564	-28,210	7,696	-16,218	-56,882	-9,160	-12,612	-7,770	5,189	-13,017

EMU	Assets	69,883	-33,475	25,986	210	20,342	23,345	-5,473	-12,054	-8,374	-7,574
	Liabilities	-8,855	-11,997	4,268	-11,549	-1,179	-395	-5,410	11,407	-8,193	-9,801
Non-EMU	Assets	17,451	-37,867	26,185	-20,990	-55,120	67,376	-13,359	-11,876	6,661	-19,293
	Liabilities	-65,708	-16,212	3,428	-4,668	-55,703	-8,765	-7,201	-19,177	13,383	-3,217
EU	Assets	36,706	28,614	19,893	-5,517	-7,667	29,997	7,279	33,585	4,451	-16,701
	Liabilities	-38,362	31,511	10,836	-16,287	-28,250	-4,661	4,812	15,888	2,330	8,481
Non-EU	Assets	50,628	-99,956	32,278	-15,263	-27,111	60,724	-26,111	-57,515	-6,164	-10,166
	Liabilities	-36,203	-59,721	-3,140	69	-28,633	-4,499	-17,424	-23,658	2,859	-21,498

Reserve Assets		494	1,313	108	307	-24	103	936	-212	370	219

Balance on Financial Account		22,784	5,099	3,744	3,996	8,873	6,171	7,957	3,046	11,008	-16,912

Net errors and omissions		-2,118	-1,885	-480	-3,234	2,273	-677	1,369	-361	1,322	-4,215
¹See footnote 1 on Table 2b.
²The term ‘EMU’ means the area represented by the 19 Member States participating in Monetary Union since the enlargement of the Euro area on 1 January 2015 to include
Lithuania.The term ‘EU’ relates to transactions between residents of Ireland and other residents of the EU-28 area. All data shown on this table relates to EMU-19 and EU-28.
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 Methodology Documents.Methodology Document (PDF 239KB)

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Balance of International Payments

Quarter 4 and Year 2016

Current account deficit of €11bn in Q4 2016

Current account (see Table 2a)

Financial account (see Tables 2b and 3)

Background Notes

Definition

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