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International Accounts Q2 2023

Accounts with the UK

Current account with UK shows a deficit of €3.9bn in Quarter 2 2023

Online ISSN: 2565-6384

CSO statistical publication, 01 September 2023, 11am

	Merchandise	Services	Income	Current Account
Q1 2021	0.589	2.403	-0.497	2.496
Q2 2021	-0.72	3.826	-4.188	-1.081
Q3 2021	0.17	3.646	-4.629	-0.813
Q4 2021	-1.083	5.053	-3.452	0.52
Q1 2022	-1.508	3.352	-4.025	-2.18
Q2 2022	-1.573	4.289	-5.268	-2.552
Q3 2022	-5.748	4.053	-4.13	-5.824
Q4 2022	-2.36	4.176	-6.056	-4.24
Q1 2023	-1.48	3.65	-6.484	-4.315
Q2 2023	-1.275	3.962	-6.631	-3.945

Current account with UK (See Table 3.1)

Merchandise exports were €7,731m in the second quarter of 2023, a decrease of €234m compared with the second quarter of 2022.
Merchandise imports were €9,006m in the second quarter of 2023, a decrease of €532m compared with the same period in 2022.
Services exports at €11,130m increased by €193m compared to the second quarter of 2022, mainly due to transport and tourism and travel exports.
Services imports at €7,168m were up €520m over that same period in 2022, these figures were affected by increased levels of business and insurance costs.
Investment income earned in the UK at €10,345m, increased by €3,818m compared with one year earlier and investment income payable to UK investors at €16,975m increased by €5,147m.
When these effects are combined, the trade balance with the UK has decreased by €28m and net income outflows have increased by €1,363m, compared with the second quarter of 2022. The result is a deficit of €3,945m in the second quarter of 2023, compared to -€2,552m over the same period in 2022.

The experimental table on foreign direct investment with the UK (See Table 3.2); shows that direct investment in Ireland from the UK has increased by €1,107m in the second quarter of 2023 mainly due to increases in other capital and reinvestment earnings. Direct investment abroad from Ireland to the UK has also increased by €1,905m in the second quarter of 2023.

Table 3.1 Current Account with the UK

Table 3.1 Current Account with the UK										€ million
			2021	2022	2022				2023
Item			Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2
Current Account
Merchandise¹		Exports	25,807	30,330	6,928	7,965	7,599	7,838	7,473	7,731
		Imports	26,851	41,519	8,436	9,538	13,347	10,198	8,953	9,006

	of which: Merchanting (net export)	Exports	4,109	4,029	1,067	934	1,017	1,011	907	809

Services		Exports	39,669	43,552	9,738	10,937	11,549	11,328	10,202	11,130
		Imports	24,741	27,682	6,386	6,648	7,496	7,152	6,552	7,168
	Transport	Exports	1,168	2,901	344	716	1,174	667	595	1,005
		Imports	791	1,183	241	254	397	291	269	269
	Tourism and Travel²	Exports	287	1,130	120	300	418	292	259	367
		Imports	698	1,579	268	381	478	452	487	441
	Insurance	Exports	2,621	2,759	682	717	672	688	680	730
		Imports	1,783	1,996	459	456	570	511	506	586
	Financial services	Exports	7,132	7,069	1,863	1,776	1,877	1,553	1,642	1,754
		Imports	8,627	8,049	2,083	2,021	2,055	1,890	1,856	2,084
	Royalties/Licences	Exports	535	557	115	119	109	214	85	120
		Imports	293	473	116	121	118	118	117	145
	Computer services³	Exports	17,667	18,459	4,306	4,627	4,552	4,974	4,447	4,408
		Imports	411	279	47	68	75	89	40	49
	Business services	Exports	5,545	7,061	1,424	1,737	1,980	1,920	1,526	1,657
		Imports	10,951	12,977	2,889	3,051	3,539	3,498	3,054	3,331
	(of which: Operational leasing)	Exports	848	821	207	198	206	210	211	237
		Imports	141	129	*	*	*	*	*	*
	Other	Exports	4,712	3,617	885	945	767	1,020	968	1,088
		Imports	1,187	1,146	282	297	265	302	223	262

Merchandise and Services Total		Exports	65,477	73,881	16,666	18,901	19,148	19,166	17,675	18,861
		Imports	51,592	69,201	14,822	16,186	20,843	17,350	15,505	16,174

Trade balance		Net	13,886	4,680	1,845	2,715	-1,695	1,815	2,169	2,687

Primary Income		Inflows	22,149	26,102	5,339	6,559	6,844	7,360	8,280	10,379
		Outflows	35,151	45,779	9,416	11,879	11,026	13,458	14,809	17,030
	(of which : Investment Income)	Inflows	22,063	25,972	5,309	6,527	6,810	7,326	8,246	10,345
		Outflows	34,985	45,567	9,367	11,828	10,970	13,402	14,754	16,975
	Direct investment income	Inflows	3,320	3,522	577	1,462	991	492	847	1,986
		Outflows	1,703	1,221	103	638	-47	527	873	742
	Portfolio investment income	Inflows	14,412	15,281	3,600	3,962	3,730	3,989	4,181	4,493
		Outflows	30,357	41,194	8,529	10,488	10,156	12,021	12,675	14,904
	Other investment income	Inflows	4,330	7,170	1,132	1,104	2,089	2,845	3,218	3,866
		Outflows	2,924	3,151	735	702	861	853	1,206	1,329

Secondary Income		Inflows	1,894	1,763	371	544	533	315	418	469
		Outflows	1,658	1,565	319	492	481	273	373	449

Income balance		Net	-12,766	-19,479	-4,025	-5,268	-4,130	-6,056	-6,484	-6,631

Current Account - Total		Inflows	89,521	101,748	22,376	26,005	26,526	26,841	26,372	29,709
		Outflows	88,400	116,544	24,556	28,557	32,350	31,081	30,687	33,654

Current Account Balance with UK		Net	1,122	-14,796	-2,180	-2,552	-5,824	-4,240	-4,315	-3,945
¹Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.
²Under the credit item, passenger fate receipts of resident carriers from foreign visitors are excluded; such receipts are included under transport credits - see Background Notes.
³Covers exports and imports of sofware 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.

Open in Excel: International Accounts Q2 2023 Table 3.1 (XLS 15KB)

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Table 3.2 Foreign Direct Investment with the UK

Next chapter: Foreign Direct Investment

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Table 3.2 Foreign Direct investment with the UK¹									€ million
		2021	2022	2022				2023
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2

Direct Investment	Abroad	7,123	-2,202	2,704	1,633	-5,173	-1,366	2,138	1,905
	In Ireland	-2,125	1,018	83	-1,524	963	1,496	2,629	1,107

Equity	Abroad	3,208	1,951	6,649	287	-3,290	-1,695	1,113	12
	In Ireland	*	-854	-166	-202	-689	203	18	-733
Reinvested Earnings	Abroad	2,188	1,861	303	1,297	140	121	343	1,524
	In Ireland	*	191	-129	409	-290	201	757	457
Other Capital	Abroad	1,727	-6,013	-4,248	50	-2,023	208	682	369
	In Ireland	9,603	1,684	378	-1,730	1,942	1,094	1,854	1,384
¹For Direct Investment, a 'directional' categorisation is used: 'Abroad' 'indicates direct investment by Irish investors in British companies; British direct investment into Ireland is indicated by the heading 'In Ireland'.

International Accounts Q2 2023

Accounts with the UK

Accounts with the UK

Current account with UK shows a deficit of €3.9bn in Quarter 2 2023

Current account with UK (See Table 3.1)

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