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Balance of International Payments

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Large imports of intellectual property bring current account balance to -€26.5bn in Quarter 2 2019

Table 1.1 Balance of International Payments€ million
 Merchandise BalanceServices and Income BalanceCurrent Account BalanceCurrent Account Balance as % of GDP
Q2 201828,803-18,24210,56113.7
Q2 201928,157-54,695-26,538-32.0
     
Q1+Q2 201857,863-35,97621,88614.0
Q1+Q2 201960,308-75,857-15,548-9.3

The Balance of Payments current account, a measure of Ireland’s economic flows with the rest of the world, showed a large deficit in the second quarter of 2019. Large imports of intellectual property have brought the surplus in the previous quarter to a deficit in quarter 2 2019, despite significant growth in computer service exports. 

Current Account
Q1 20161.08381713228808
Q2 2016-7.14072128705424
Q3 2016-1.77829680155542
Q4 2016-8.51023414768543
Q1 20178.69115409372204
Q2 2017-45.5378863680057
Q3 201718.4851609171481
Q4 201715.9244761416053
Q1 201814.3462968690652
Q2 201813.7409318355348
Q3 201813.5071542511826
Q4 20181.17048719979101
Q1 201913.1484178789591
Q2 2019-32.0314722856766
MerchandiseServicesPrimary IncomeSecondary IncomeBalance on Current Account
Q1 201725.187-3.437-15.139-0.6165.994
Q2 201724.546-38.743-16.392-1.17-31.759
Q3 201728.6630.26-13.902-0.62614.395
Q4 201730.723-1.571-15.63-0.69412.827
Q1 201829.06-0.151-16.681-0.90211.325
Q2 201828.803-0.986-16.269-0.98710.561
Q3 201828.220.527-16.561-0.75911.427
Q4 201826.877-4.961-20.22-0.7180.979
Q1 201932.151-1.224-18.682-1.25610.99
Q2 201928.157-33.412-20.708-0.575-26.538

Other points of note in the Quarter 2 2019 results are:

Current account (see Table 1.3)

  • Merchandise exports were €54,971m in the second quarter of 2019, an increase of €1,273m compared with the second quarter of 2018. Merchandise imports were €26,814m in the second quarter of 2019, an increase of €1,920m compared with the same period in 2018.
  • Service exports, at €52,678m, increased by €8,977m compared to the second quarter of 2018, mainly due to higher computer services exports.
  • Service imports at €86,090m were up €41,403m over the same period in 2018. These figures were mainly explained by increased imports of intellectual property.
  • Ireland’s trade balance at -€5,256m, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, decreased by €33,073m in the second quarter of 2019, over the same period in 2018, mainly due to intellectual property imports.
  • Investment income earned abroad at €23,909m, increased by €1,266m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €44,731m increased by €5,535m, mainly due to increased profits in the information and communications sector. The overall income balance for the quarter at -€21,283m was €4,027m lower than the same period in 2018.
Direct InvestmentPortfolio InvestmentOther InvestmentReserve AssetsBalance on Financial Account
Q1 2017-2.307-15.6096.19-0.101-11.827
Q2 2017-21.375-41.42728.3710.163-34.268
Q3 20176.4880.4526.860.23514.035
Q4 2017-31.389-1.05947.7060.10215.36
Q1 201811.8659.333-21.878-0.022-0.702
Q2 20189.67-27.04735.1660.00517.794
Q3 201810.784-2.4091.680.20910.265
Q4 2018-7.91814.452-47.9440.578-40.832
Q1 20192.627-3.74812.7950.00211.675
Q2 2019-49.036-14.05925.3150.121-37.659

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

  • Direct investment in Ireland decreased by €12,705m in the second quarter of 2019. This change was driven by decreases in equity of €49,135m, while this was offset by an increase in reinvested earnings of €19,332m and an increase in other capital of €17,098m. Direct investment abroad decreased by €61,740m in the quarter, mainly as a result of a reduction in other capital of €64,038m.
  • Portfolio investment in foreign assets increased by €30,773m in the quarter. Investment in foreign equity increased by €9,254m while investment in foreign debt instruments increased by €21,519m. Portfolio investment in Ireland increased by €44,832m, mainly due to increased purchase of Irish equity of €45,099m.
  • Other investment assets increased by €44,181m while other investment liabilities increased by €18,866m in the second quarter of 2019, both mainly due to the activity of IFSC enterprises.
Table 1.2 Summary of Current, Capital and Financial Account Balances

Table 1.3 Current and Capital Accounts

Table 1.4 Financial Account

Table 1.5 Current, Capital and Financial Accounts showing IFSC and non-IFSC activity

Table 1.6 Current and Capital Accounts showing geographical detail

Table 1.7 Financial Account showing geographical detail


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