Ireland’s Balance of Payments showed a current account surplus of €14.9bn in Quarter 1 (Q1) 2024 (see table 1.3).
Merchandise exports were €75.5bn in Q1 2024, a decrease of €13.4bn compared with Q1 2023. Merchandise imports were €36.7bn in Q1 2024 up €1.5bn compared with the same period in 2023.
Service exports at €105.1bn, grew by €14.7bn compared with Q1 2023. Service imports at €95.8bn were up €6.4bn over the same period in 2023.
The trade balance at €48.1bn, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, decreased by €6.7bn in Q1 2024 over the same period in 2023.
The overall income balance for Q1 2024 was -€33.2bn, an increase of €9.8bn compared with the same period in 2023.
Direct investment into Ireland fell by €1.2bn in Q1 2024 while direct investment abroad increased by €13bn in the quarter (see table 1.4).
The stock of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) assets held in Ireland by foreign investors fell by €112.1bn in Q1 2024 to €1,187.8bn. FDI assets held abroad by Irish investors were up by €1bn in the quarter to €1,249.3bn (see table 7.2).
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (12 July 2024) published the International Accounts results for Quarter 1 (Q1) 2024.
Commenting on the release, Christopher Sibley, Assistant Director General with responsibility for Economic Statistics said:
“In International Accounts results, the Current Account of the Balance of Payments recorded a surplus of €41.3 billion in flows with the rest of the world in 2023, a disimprovement of €4.4 billion compared with the surplus of €45.6 billion in 2022.This was driven to a significant degree by lower Goods for Processing Exports offset by lower net outflows of multinational profits. The improvement of €2.0 billion in the Services balance between 2022 and 2023 reflects increased Computer Services Exports that were greater than the combined increases in royalty and Business Services imports in the year. In comparison, the modified Current Account balance, or CA*, which excludes the impact of re-domiciled companies, aircraft leasing companies and intellectual property products, recorded a surplus of €9.5 billion in the year. Multinational profit net outflows were €108.4 billion in the year, a fall of €36.0 billion on 2022 levels.”
More commentary is available in the Press Release also issued today Press Statement