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International Accounts Q3 2020

Balance of International Payments

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Current account balance of €12.7bn in Quarter 3 2020

Table 1.1 Balance of International Payments				€ million
	Merchandise Balance	Services and Income Balance	Current Account Balance	Current Account Balance as % of GDP
Q3 2019	31,604	-19,995	11,609	12.5
Q3 2020	36,820	-24,116	12,705	12.8

Q1-Q3 2019	89,928	-101,768	-11,840	-4.5
Q1-Q3 2020	104,603	-94,793	9,811	3.6

Open in Excel: International Accounts Q3 2020 Table 1.1 (XLS 10KB)

The Balance of Payments current account, a measure of Ireland’s economic flows with the rest of the world, showed a surplus of €12.7bn in the third quarter of 2020. Quarter on quarter increased merchandise exports and continued low imports of intellectual property have kept the account in surplus.

	Current Account
Q2 2018	13.8390941460721
Q3 2018	12.9536795807672
Q4 2018	-15.8463385447228
Q1 2019	10.7772509840293
Q2 2019	-38.3864861688368
Q3 2019	12.452669962882
Q4 2019	-30.7250927111529
Q1 2020	-15.8430740827369
Q2 2020	14.1110049572984
Q3 2020	12.794781627022

	Merchandise	Services	Primary Income	Secondary Income	Balance on Current Account
Q2 2018	28.044	-0.017	-16.155	-1.076	10.795
Q3 2018	27.258	1.279	-16.675	-0.846	11.016
Q4 2018	25.418	-18.214	-19.753	-0.808	-13.357
Q1 2019	30.224	-0.079	-19.668	-1.324	9.153
Q2 2019	28.1	-38.931	-21.111	-0.66	-32.602
Q3 2019	31.604	0.996	-20.096	-0.895	11.609
Q4 2019	29.197	-37.317	-19.751	-0.693	-28.564
Q1 2020	34.409	-28.156	-19.728	-1.081	-14.557
Q2 2020	33.374	-0.788	-19.916	-1.008	11.663
Q3 2020	36.82	5.57	-28.935	-0.751	12.705

Other points of note in the Quarter 3 2020 results are:

Current account (see Table 1.3)

Merchandise exports were €60,263m in the third quarter of 2020, an increase of €2,857m compared with the third quarter of 2019. Merchandise imports were €23,443m in the third quarter of 2020, a decrease of €2,359m over the same period in 2019.
Service exports at €53,858m decreased by €1,865m compared to the third quarter of 2019, mainly due to lower Transport and Tourism & Travel services exports (which decreased by €2,108m and €1,464m respectively).
Service imports at €48,288m were down €6,439m over the same period in 2019, mainly due to lower Tourism & Travel and Royalty services imports (which decreased by €1,923m and €5,234m respectively).
Ireland’s trade balance at €42,391m, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, increased by €9,791m in the third quarter of 2020 over the same period in 2019.
Investment income earned abroad at €22,195m, decreased by €5,919m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €51,400m increased by €2,937m. The overall income balance for the quarter at -€29,686m decreased by €8,695m compared with the same period in 2019.

	Direct Investment	Portfolio Investment	Other Investment	Reserve Assets	Balance on Financial Account
Q2 2018	11.434	-16.041	19.784	0.005	15.181
Q3 2018	15.206	8.493	-15.738	0.209	8.17
Q4 2018	-21.605	25.783	-62.669	0.578	-57.913
Q1 2019	6.121	10.265	-5.096	0.002	11.291
Q2 2019	-56.32	-9.936	9.38	0.121	-56.754
Q3 2019	-5.398	-6.617	16.685	0.125	4.795
Q4 2019	-31.71	35.461	-29.574	0.181	-25.641
Q1 2020	-14.702	-83.137	73.562	0.138	-24.138
Q2 2020	-67.348	82.309	-17.006	0.019	-2.027
Q3 2020	3.497	10.736	-11.888	0.695	3.041

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

Direct investment in Ireland decreased by €19,372m in the third quarter of 2020. This was due to decreased equity investment of €7,830m and other capital of €37,170m which were offset by increased reinvested earnings of €25,628m. Direct investment abroad decreased by €15,874m in the quarter, mainly due to decreased equity investment of €12,208m and other capital investment abroad of €7,390m.
Portfolio investment in foreign assets increased by €54,253m in the quarter. Investment in foreign equity increased by €30,372m while investment in foreign debt instruments increased by €23,881m. Portfolio investment in Ireland increased by €43,517m, mainly due to increased purchase of Irish equity of €33,896m and Irish debt of €9,621m.
Other investment assets and liabilities increased by €23,160m and €35,047m respectively in the third quarter of 2020 due to an increase in both IFSC enterprise assets and liabilities.

Table 1.2 Summary of Current, Capital and Financial Account Balances

Table 1.2 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	services and income balance
			Services	Primary Income	Secondary Income	Total
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	-6,282	-33,939	-2,609	-42,830	-5,934	86	-20,497	-767	10,952	-12	-10,324	-4,476
2013	Year	34,506	-718	-28,069	-2,931	-31,718	2,787	-936	-16,137	35,737	-15,467	10	4,143	2,289
2014	Year	40,731	-5,546	-30,341	-2,750	-38,637	2,093	-6,769	-5,279	-27,862	20,506	136	-12,498	-7,824
2015	Year	113,394	-37,715	-60,785	-3,338	-101,838	11,556	-1,303	-44,510	-88,281	138,621	494	6,321	-3,930
2016	Year	106,088	-63,735	-49,912	-3,813	-117,460	-11,373	-4,331	-8,430	27,711	-29,073	1,456	-8,335	7,368
2017	Year	109,119	-43,491	-61,063	-3,106	-107,660	1,457	-25,855	-48,583	-57,643	89,127	399	-16,700	7,697
2018	Year	109,132	-16,344	-69,449	-3,721	-89,514	19,617	-52,019	21,775	37,600	-92,307	770	-32,163	240
2019	Year	119,125	-75,331	-80,626	-3,572	-159,529	-40,404	-35,139	-87,307	29,173	-8,605	429	-66,309	9,235

2015	Quarter 1	26,790	-5,794	-16,013	-986	-22,793	3,998	-707	38,272	-72,519	36,581	108	2,441	-849
	Quarter 2	26,894	-8,024	-11,422	-794	-20,240	6,654	-226	-2,591	13,757	-9,476	307	1,996	-4,432
	Quarter 3	29,755	-7,431	-17,792	-593	-25,816	3,939	100	9,983	-17,663	14,477	-24	6,773	2,735
	Quarter 4	29,955	-16,466	-15,558	-965	-32,989	-3,035	-470	-90,174	-11,856	97,039	103	-4,889	-1,384
2016	Quarter 1	27,290	-14,564	-11,001	-1,020	-26,585	705	-2,670	12,279	-7,497	1,420	1,095	7,297	9,262
	Quarter 2	24,440	-16,885	-11,342	-768	-28,995	-4,555	-586	-293	2,933	-14,069	-224	-11,653	-6,513
	Quarter 3	26,315	-12,294	-14,425	-820	-27,539	-1,224	161	-10,522	10,385	-7,662	379	-7,420	-6,357
	Quarter 4	28,043	-19,992	-13,144	-1,205	-34,341	-6,299	-1,236	-9,894	21,890	-8,762	206	3,441	10,976
2017	Quarter 1	25,187	-3,437	-15,139	-616	-19,192	5,994	-8,538	-2,307	-15,609	6,190	-101	-11,827	-9,283
	Quarter 2	24,546	-38,743	-16,392	-1,170	-56,305	-31,759	-12,079	-21,375	-41,427	28,371	163	-34,268	9,570
	Quarter 3	28,663	260	-13,902	-626	-14,268	14,395	-4,640	6,488	452	6,860	235	14,035	4,279
	Quarter 4	30,723	-1,571	-15,630	-694	-17,895	12,827	-598	-31,389	-1,059	47,706	102	15,360	3,131
2018	Quarter 1	28,412	608	-16,866	-991	-17,249	11,163	-109	16,740	19,365	-33,684	-22	2,399	-8,655
	Quarter 2	28,044	-17	-16,155	-1,076	-17,248	10,795	59	11,434	-16,041	19,784	5	15,181	4,327
	Quarter 3	27,258	1,279	-16,675	-846	-16,242	11,016	63	15,206	8,493	-15,738	209	8,170	-2,909
	Quarter 4	25,418	-18,214	-19,753	-808	-38,775	-13,357	-52,032	-21,605	25,783	-62,669	578	-57,913	7,477
2019	Quarter 1	30,224	-79	-19,668	-1,324	-21,071	9,153	-6,771	6,121	10,265	-5,096	2	11,291	8,910
	Quarter 2	28,100	-38,931	-21,111	-660	-60,702	-32,602	-17,302	-56,320	-9,936	9,380	121	-56,754	-6,850
	Quarter 3	31,604	996	-20,096	-895	-19,995	11,609	-5,141	-5,398	-6,617	16,685	125	4,795	-1,673
	Quarter 4	29,197	-37,317	-19,751	-693	-57,761	-28,564	-5,925	-31,710	35,461	-29,574	181	-25,641	8,848
2020	Quarter 1	34,409	-28,156	-19,728	-1,081	-48,965	-14,557	-4,820	-14,702	-83,137	73,562	138	-24,138	-4,760
	Quarter 2	33,374	-788	-19,916	-1,008	-21,712	11,663	-7,903	-67,348	82,309	-17,006	19	-2,027	-5,787
	Quarter 3	36,820	5,570	-28,935	-751	-24,116	12,705	-1,918	3,497	10,736	-11,888	695	3,041	-7,746
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.

Open in Excel: International Accounts Q3 2020 Table 1.2 (XLS 16KB)

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Table 1.3 Current and Capital Accounts

Table 1.3 Current and Capital Accounts										€ million
		2018	2019	2019				2020
Item				Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3
Current Account
Merchandise¹	Exports	211,444	227,497	56,499	54,444	57,406	59,148	59,452	55,997	60,263
	Imports	102,312	108,372	26,275	26,344	25,802	29,951	25,043	22,622	23,443

International trade	Exports	140,594	152,679	37,559	38,511	37,630	38,979	42,339	38,322	40737
	Imports	89,189	87,702	21,203	21,364	21,093	24,042	21,183	18,409	20025
Goods for processing	Exports	63,895	68,468	16,911	13,966	18,678	18,913	14,596	15,924	18276
	Imports	10,215	16,769	4,015	4,145	3,505	5,104	3,104	3,884	2936
Other conceptual adjustments	Exports	-3,640	-7,128	-599	-1,059	-2,477	-2,993	-761	-1,220	-1884
	Imports	2,907	3,900	1,056	835	1,204	805	755	329	482
Merchanting (net export)	Exports	10,596	13,477	2,627	3,026	3,575	4,249	3,277	2,971	3134

Services	Exports	188,454	221,370	48,280	54,768	55,723	62,599	52,712	51,737	53,858
	Imports	204,799	296,702	48,359	93,699	54,727	99,917	80,868	52,525	48,288
Repairs and Processing	Exports	1,899	2,477	597	621	588	671	641	745	616
	Imports	5,428	6,603	1,637	1,405	1,479	2,082	1,601	1,944	1,654
Transport	Exports	7,746	8,041	1,151	2,189	2,961	1,740	1,085	299	853
	Imports	3,065	3,281	792	801	795	893	748	695	704
Tourism and Travel ²	Exports	5,760	5,739	952	1,621	1,941	1,225	769	168	477
	Imports	6,399	7,288	1,454	1,851	2,418	1,565	1,227	66	495
Insurance	Exports	9,535	9,905	2,361	2,418	2,440	2,686	2,656	2,540	2,607
	Imports	7,983	8,141	2,178	1,993	2,097	1,873	2,361	2,178	1,970
Financial services	Exports	15,354	16,867	4,053	4,067	4,198	4,549	3,667	4,065	4,346
	Imports	13,924	15,501	3,669	3,700	3,845	4,287	3,633	3,942	4,007
Royalties/Licences	Exports	12,150	10,614	2,105	2,654	2,688	3,167	1,985	2,251	2,388
	Imports	72,494	84,260	18,689	20,432	21,254	23,885	18,727	18,058	16,020
of which: Pharmaceutical products and preparations	Exports	403	143	38	39	33	33	13	45	16
	Imports	16,556	20,888	4,323	5,846	5,264	5,455	2,884	3,462	2,869
Information and communication	Exports	6,312	4,788	1,052	1,252	1,238	1,246	1,036	1,056	1,115
	Imports	40,732	50,650	11,104	11,670	*	*	*	*	*
Communications	Exports	411	336	91	90	82	73	71	63	63
	Imports	571	456	128	113	116	99	59	70	63
Computer services³	Exports	93,075	117,099	26,085	28,730	28,433	33,851	30,441	29,958	31,258
	Imports	5,344	4,540	1,067	1,057	1,197	1,219	1,199	1,340	1,274
Business services	Exports	36,638	43,792	10,135	10,653	10,739	12,265	10,317	9,247	8,974
	Imports	88,826	165,812	18,544	62,144	21,321	63,803	51,097	24,020	21,870
Research and development	Exports	3,130	5,041	1,077	1,067	1,159	1,738	1,336	991	1,027
	Imports	37,443	105,081	4,687	47,665	7,001	45,728	*	8,360	6,024
of which: IP related	Exports	740	622	85	13	*	*	*	7	12
	Imports	19,757	84,059	466	*	1,202	*	*	1,786	207
Operational leasing	Exports	15,405	16,400	3,942	4,122	4,121	4,215	4,169	3,770	3,364
	Imports	1,034	967	241	243	245	238	208	206	212
Misc. business services⁴	Exports	18,103	22,351	5,115	5,464	5,460	6,312	4,813	4,486	4,584
	Imports	50,349	59,764	13,616	14,236	14,075	17,837	*	15,455	15,635
Other services n.e.s.	Exports	5,886	6,501	751	1,725	1,654	2,371	1,078	2,401	2,274
	Imports	762	819	200	205	204	210	216	212	230

Merchandise and Services - Total	Exports	399,898	448,867	104,779	109,212	113,129	121,747	112,164	107,734	114,121
	Imports	307,110	405,073	74,634	120,043	80,528	129,868	105,911	75,147	71,731

Trade Balance	Net	92,788	43,793	30,145	-10,831	32,600	-8,121	6,252	32,586	42,391

Primary Income	Inflows	87,390	108,801	26,143	28,098	28,623	25,937	26,453	22,535	22,633
	Outflows	156,841	189,428	45,811	49,209	48,720	45,688	46,181	42,451	51,568
Compensation of Employees	Inflows	528	524	131	131	131	131	131	35	38
	Outflows	614	674	159	167	172	176	180	113	114
Investment Income	Inflows	85,297	106,686	25,660	27,617	28,114	25,295	25,945	22,136	22,195
	Outflows	155,874	188,260	45,554	48,839	48,463	45,404	45,910	42,100	51,400
Direct investment income	Inflows	21,454	20,710	5,208	4,776	5,897	4,829	6,154	2,738	4,082
	Outflows	79,569	91,785	22,870	22,605	24,045	22,265	23,505	21,015	30,560

of which: Manufacturing	Outflows	46,233	51,893	14,469	10,064	14,850	12,510	14,925	13,383	19,040
Information and communication	Outflows	13,025	16,534	3,628	6,168	2,885	3,853	4,313	4,355	8,152

Income on equity	Inflows	17,057	17,032	4,152	3,681	5,022	4,177	5,595	2,299	3,782
	Outflows	70,664	82,325	20,704	20,348	21,511	19,762	21,245	18,594	28,142
Dividends & distributed	Inflows	2,384	1,289	151	224	758	156	90	42	58
branch profits	Outflows	18,962	19,481	10,543	1,582	2,847	4,509	11,401	1,545	2,514
Reinvested earnings	Inflows	14,673	15,742	4,001	3,457	4,264	4,020	5,506	2,257	3,724
	Outflows	51,703	62,845	10,162	18,766	18,664	15,253	9,844	17,049	25,628
Income on debt	Inflows	4,396	3,678	1,056	1,095	875	652	559	439	300
	Outflows	8,904	9,460	2,166	2,257	2,534	2,503	2,260	2,421	2,419
Portfolio investment income	Inflows	51,689	65,041	15,476	17,459	16,563	15,543	15,202	14,966	14,292
	Outflows	64,483	80,694	18,342	22,558	20,564	19,230	19,123	17,560	17,583
Income on equity	Inflows	16,737	21,116	4,894	6,768	5,356	4,098	4,254	4,940	4,549
	Outflows	55,946	63,532	14,178	18,267	16,174	14,913	14,852	13,433	13,529
Income on debt	Inflows	34,952	43,926	10,583	10,691	11,207	11,445	10,947	10,026	9,743
	Outflows	8,538	17,162	4,163	4,292	4,390	4,317	4,271	4,127	4,055
Other investment income	Inflows	12,154	20,935	4,976	5,382	5,654	4,923	4,589	4,431	3,821
	Outflows	11,821	15,782	4,343	3,676	3,854	3,909	3,281	3,525	3,257
Other primary income	Inflows	1,566	1,588	351	349	378	510	377	364	400
	Outflows	353	493	97	203	85	108	91	237	54

Secondary Income	Inflows	5,158	5,003	1,052	1,039	1,233	1,679	1,472	1,369	1,399
	Outflows	8,878	8,573	2,375	1,699	2,128	2,371	2,553	2,377	2,150

Income Balance	Net	-73,170	-84,198	-20,992	-21,771	-20,991	-20,444	-20,809	-20,924	-29,686

Current Account - Total	Inflows	492,445	562,670	131,973	138,349	142,985	149,363	140,088	131,637	138,153
	Outflows	472,829	603,074	122,820	170,951	131,376	177,927	154,645	119,975	125,448

Current Account Balance	Net	19,617	-40,404	9,153	-32,602	11,609	-28,564	-14,557	11,663	12,705

Capital Account Balance	Net	-52,019	-35,139	-6,771	-17,302	-5,141	-5,925	-4,820	-7,903	-1,918

Memorandum Item:
Government Income	Inflows	102	101	20	41	20	20	14	16	15
	Outflows	3,711	3,358	887	870	845	756	638	597	515
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.

Open in Excel: International Accounts Q3 2020 Table 1.3 (XLS 18KB)

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Table 1.4 Financial Account

Table 1.4 Financial Account¹										€ million
		2018	2019	2019				2020
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3

Direct Investment	Abroad	8,146	-14,858	8,131	-60,549	27,796	9,764	-10,626	-2,920	-15,874
	In Ireland	-13,630	72,448	2,010	-4,229	33,194	41,473	4,076	64,428	-19,372

Equity	Abroad	-13,723	62,899	37,055	2,994	-2,816	25,666	9,968	1,359	-12,208
	In Ireland	-61,938	-13,157	37,851	-41,017	-1,183	-8,808	7,516	59,092	-7,830
Reinvested Earnings	Abroad	14,673	15,742	4,001	3,457	4,264	4,020	5,506	2,257	3,724
	In Ireland	51,703	62,845	10,162	18,766	18,664	15,253	9,844	17,049	25,628
Other Capital	Abroad	7,195	-93,500	-32,926	-66,999	26,348	-19,923	-26,099	-6,536	-7,390
	In Ireland	-3,394	22,760	-46,003	18,022	15,713	35,028	-13,284	-11,712	-37,170

Portfolio Investment	Assets	130,810	321,381	44,528	27,087	132,169	117,597	-113,863	168,713	54,253
	Liabilities	93,210	292,208	34,263	37,023	138,786	82,136	-30,726	86,405	43,517

Equity	Assets	52,521	85,500	15,527	5,901	18,991	45,081	-11,680	23,252	30,372
	Liabilities	86,969	220,620	24,361	21,262	100,511	74,486	-39,726	58,837	33,896
Debt Instruments	Assets	78,289	235,881	29,001	21,186	113,178	72,516	-102,182	145,461	23,881
	Liabilities	6,242	71,588	9,902	15,761	38,275	7,650	9,000	27,567	9,621
Bonds and notes	Assets	103,639	211,900	51,864	38,379	64,557	57,100	-36,985	43,638	37,743
	Liabilities	11,861	68,667	9,668	14,351	36,684	7,964	5,997	16,382	11,102
Money market instruments	Assets	-25,351	23,980	-22,863	-17,194	48,621	15,416	-65,197	101,823	-13,862
	Liabilities	-5,620	2,919	234	1,409	1,590	-314	3,003	11,185	-1,480

Other Investment	Assets	-1,932	114,860	54,657	27,488	56,690	-23,975	178,561	-57,388	23,160
	Liabilities	90,375	123,464	59,753	18,107	40,005	5,599	104,998	-40,381	35,047

Loans, currency and deposits	Assets	20,233	121,858	55,667	16,999	44,631	4,561	116,053	-36,644	28,744
	Liabilities	78,817	67,924	36,143	5,602	7,925	18,254	56,556	-14,561	15,083
Other²	Assets	-22,164	-6,999	-1,010	10,488	12,059	-28,536	62,508	-20,744	-5,584
	Liabilities	11,558	55,540	23,610	12,505	32,080	-12,655	48,442	-25,820	19,965

Reserve Assets		770	429	2	121	125	181	138	19	695

Monetary gold		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Special drawing rights		14	28	10	8	-19	29	-3	45	-43
Reserve position in the IMF		-1	-7	0	0	2	-9	4	-7	-22
Foreign exchange		250	66	127	-102	82	-41	-148	-10	110
Other		508	343	-136	216	60	203	285	-9	650

Balance on Financial Account		-32,163	-66,309	11,291	-56,754	4,795	-25,641	-24,138	-2,027	3,041

Net errors and omissions		240	9,235	8,910	-6,850	-1,673	8,848	-4,760	-5,787	-7,746
Memorandum Item:
Government financial	Assets	14,211	-1,895	-1,871	-399	-251	626	-1,261	136	-163
transactions	Liabilities	17,084	283	5,025	-874	51	-3,919	5,363	9,565	-2,986
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 1.5 Current, Capital and Financial Accounts showing IFSC and Non-IFSC activity

Table 1.5 Current, Capital and Financial Accounts showing IFSC¹ and Non–IFSC activity										€ million
		2018	2019	2019				2020
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3
Current Account - Total	Inflows	492,445	562,670	131,973	138,349	142,985	149,363	140,088	131,637	138,153
	Outflows	472,829	603,074	122,820	170,951	131,376	177,927	154,645	119,975	125,448

Merchandise²	Exports	211,444	227,497	56,499	54,444	57,406	59,148	59,452	55,997	60,263
	Imports	102,312	108,372	26,275	26,344	25,802	29,951	25,043	22,622	23,443

Services	Exports	188,454	221,370	48,280	54,768	55,723	62,599	52,712	51,737	53,858
	Imports	204,799	296,702	48,359	93,699	54,727	99,917	80,868	52,525	48,288

IFSC	Exports	42,643	46,430	11,117	11,483	11,553	12,277	11,685	11,308	11,162
	Imports	27,606	30,018	7,308	7,332	7,529	7,849	7,775	7,596	7,648
Non-IFSC	Exports	145,811	174,941	37,163	43,285	44,170	50,323	41,028	40,428	42,697
	Imports	177,192	266,683	41,051	86,367	47,198	92,067	73,094	44,929	40,640

Primary Income	Inflows	87,390	108,801	26,143	28,098	28,623	25,937	26,453	22,535	22,633
	Outflows	156,841	189,428	45,811	49,209	48,720	45,688	46,181	42,451	51,568

IFSC	Inflows	64,903	85,404	20,404	22,835	22,015	20,150	19,597	18,922	17,627
	Outflows	73,684	93,617	22,109	25,181	23,933	22,394	21,299	19,613	20,325
Non-IFSC	Inflows	22,486	23,397	5,738	5,263	6,609	5,787	6,856	3,613	5,006
	Outflows	83,157	95,811	23,702	24,028	24,787	23,294	24,882	22,837	31,243

Secondary Income	Inflows	5,158	5,003	1,052	1,039	1,233	1,679	1,472	1,369	1,399
	Outflows	8,878	8,573	2,375	1,699	2,128	2,371	2,553	2,377	2,150

IFSC³	Inflows	4,025	4,096	817	864	987	1,428	1,267	1,187	1,194
	Outflows	4,025	4,096	817	864	987	1,428	1,267	1,187	1,194
Non-IFSC	Inflows	1,133	906	235	175	246	250	205	182	205
	Outflows	4,853	4,477	1,558	835	1,141	943	1,286	1,190	956

Balance on Current Account		19,617	-40,404	9,153	-32,602	11,609	-28,564	-14,557	11,663	12,705

Balance on Capital Account		-52,019	-35,139	-6,771	-17,302	-5,141	-5,925	-4,820	-7,903	-1,918

Financial Account⁴
Direct investment	Abroad	8,146	-14,858	8,131	-60,549	27,796	9,764	-10,626	-2,920	-15,874
	In Ireland	-13,630	72,448	2,010	-4,229	33,194	41,473	4,076	64,428	-19,372

IFSC	Abroad	-1,082	1,511	489	-896	-81	1,999	1,271	-1,849	-479
	In Ireland	-17,149	8,324	-22,039	1,594	10,867	17,902	-3,222	-289	5,865
Non-IFSC	Abroad	9,227	-16,369	7,642	-59,652	27,877	7,764	-11,897	-1,071	-15,395
	In Ireland	3,520	64,123	24,048	-5,823	22,327	23,571	7,298	64,718	-25,236

Portfolio investment	Assets	130,810	321,381	44,528	27,087	132,169	117,597	-113,863	168,713	54,253
	Liabilities	93,210	292,208	34,263	37,023	138,786	82,136	-30,726	86,405	43,517

IFSC	Assets	127,747	316,693	43,645	27,093	129,436	116,519	-112,992	167,359	54,966
	Liabilities	90,226	291,085	32,512	42,104	139,293	77,176	-39,336	*	*
Non-IFSC	Assets	3,063	4,689	883	-6	2,734	1,078	-871	1,354	-713
	Liabilities	2,983	1,122	1,750	-5,081	-507	4,960	8,610	*	*

Other investment⁵	Assets	-1,932	114,860	54,657	27,488	56,690	-23,975	178,561	-57,388	23,160
	Liabilities	90,375	123,464	59,753	18,107	40,005	5,599	104,998	-40,381	35,047

IFSC	Assets	-24,852	78,108	43,959	23,968	39,397	-29,216	179,708	-73,821	26,793
	Liabilities	72,268	123,693	66,554	17,373	30,891	8,875	110,700	-41,168	32,126
Non-IFSC	Assets	22,919	36,751	10,698	3,519	17,293	5,241	-1,147	16,433	-3,633
	Liabilities	18,109	-230	-6,801	734	9,114	-3,277	-5,702	786	2,921

Reserve Assets		770	429	2	121	125	181	138	19	695

Balance on Financial Account		-32,163	-66,309	11,291	-56,754	4,795	-25,641	-24,138	-2,027	3,041
Net errors and omissions		240	9,235	8,910	-6,850	-1,673	8,848	-4,760	-5,787	-7,746
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 1.4.
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 1.6 Current and Capital Accounts showing geographical detail

Table 1.6 Current and Capital Accounts showing geographical¹ detail										€ million
		2018	2019	2019				2020
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3

Current Account - Total	Inflows	492,445	562,670	131,973	138,349	142,985	149,363	140,088	131,637	138,153
	Outflows	472,829	603,074	122,820	170,951	131,376	177,927	154,645	119,975	125,448

Merchandise²	Exports	211,444	227,497	56,499	54,444	57,406	59,148	59,452	55,997	60,263
	Imports	102,312	108,372	26,275	26,344	25,802	29,951	25,043	22,622	23,443
EMU	Exports	64,160	63,692	18,040	15,762	15,120	14,770	15,889	15,669	17,686
	Imports	33,391	32,846	7,754	8,209	7,322	9,561	8,022	6,107	7,152
Non-EMU	Exports	147,284	163,803	38,459	38,682	42,285	44,377	43,562	40,327	42,577
	Imports	68,921	75,526	18,521	18,135	18,480	20,390	17,020	16,515	16,290
EU	Exports	93,387	92,087	24,930	22,538	22,187	22,432	17,476	17,194	19,215
	Imports	60,859	61,997	15,374	14,924	14,227	17,472	8,928	6,872	7,911
Non-EU	Exports	118,056	135,410	31,569	31,906	35,219	36,716	41,976	38,803	41,048
	Imports	41,452	46,374	10,901	11,420	11,574	12,479	16,114	15,750	15,532

Services	Exports	188,454	221,370	48,280	54,768	55,723	62,599	52,712	51,737	53,858
	Imports	204,799	296,702	48,359	93,699	54,727	99,917	80,868	52,525	48,288
EMU	Exports	47,256	53,727	11,904	13,808	13,421	14,594	12,520	12,920	13,412
	Imports	48,084	55,821	12,320	12,469	14,530	16,502	7,174	8,519	6,612
Non-EMU	Exports	141,200	167,643	36,377	40,959	42,302	48,005	40,193	38,817	40,446
	Imports	156,714	240,881	36,039	81,230	40,197	83,415	73,695	44,006	41,676
EU	Exports	88,453	100,814	22,343	25,336	25,417	27,718	15,488	15,874	16,562
	Imports	69,032	79,404	17,627	18,298	20,443	23,036	7,893	9,186	7,355
Non-EU	Exports	100,002	120,555	25,937	29,431	30,306	34,881	37,224	35,863	37,295
	Imports	135,767	217,298	30,732	75,401	34,284	76,881	72,975	43,339	40,933

Primary Income	Inflows	87,390	108,801	26,143	28,098	28,623	25,937	26,453	22,535	22,633
	Outflows	156,841	189,428	45,811	49,209	48,720	45,688	46,181	42,451	51,568
EMU	Inflows	32,000	38,293	10,085	8,538	9,978	9,692	10,170	6,972	7,439
	Outflows	49,725	57,153	14,143	15,613	16,358	11,039	13,601	11,823	13,605
Non-EMU	Inflows	55,392	70,509	16,058	19,560	18,646	16,245	16,283	15,562	15,194
	Outflows	107,116	132,276	31,668	33,597	32,362	34,649	32,580	30,627	37,962
EU	Inflows	54,620	67,248	16,640	16,088	17,522	16,998	11,083	7,880	8,364
	Outflows	85,252	98,906	23,780	27,418	27,311	20,397	14,006	12,250	13,985
Non-EU	Inflows	32,768	41,553	9,503	12,010	11,101	8,939	15,370	14,655	14,269
	Outflows	71,590	90,522	22,030	21,792	21,409	25,291	32,176	30,200	37,583

Secondary Income	Inflows	5,158	5,003	1,052	1,039	1,233	1,679	1,472	1,369	1,399
	Outflows	8,878	8,573	2,375	1,699	2,128	2,371	2,553	2,377	2,150
EMU	Inflows	1,570	1,948	379	440	413	716	504	669	572
	Outflows	2,162	2,542	501	597	570	874	662	826	729
Non-EMU	Inflows	3,587	3,054	672	600	820	962	968	701	827
	Outflows	6,717	6,032	1,874	1,103	1,557	1,498	1,891	1,551	1,420
EU	Inflows	3,884	3,476	738	770	847	1,121	571	752	650
	Outflows	6,828	6,238	1,880	1,240	1,539	1,579	1,537	1,544	1,245
Non-EU	Inflows	1,272	1,527	314	269	386	558	900	617	749
	Outflows	2,049	2,336	496	459	589	792	1,016	833	905

Balance on Current Account		19,617	-40,404	9,153	-32,602	11,609	-28,564	-14,557	11,663	12,705

Balance on Capital Account		-52,019	-35,139	-6,771	-17,302	-5,141	-5,925	-4,820	-7,903	-1,918

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 (EMU-19). For years 2018 and 2019, the term ‘EU’ relates to transactions between residents of Ireland and other residents of the EU-28 area. From Q12020, the term ‘EU’ relates to transactions between residents of Ireland and other residents of the EU-27 area, which excludes the United Kingdom following their withdrawal from the European Union on 1 February 2020.
²Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.

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Table 1.7 Financial Account showing geographical detail

Table 1.7 Financial Account¹ showing geographical² detail										€ million
		2018	2019	2019				2020
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3

Direct Investment	Abroad	8,146	-14,858	8,131	-60,549	27,796	9,764	-10,626	-2,920	-15,874
	In Ireland	-13,630	72,448	2,010	-4,229	33,194	41,473	4,076	64,428	-19,372

EMU	Abroad	-47,230	-13,408	17,075	-30,879	-10,118	10,514	12,057	7,506	1,713
	In Ireland	-127,208	-13,492	68,299	-34,311	29,027	-76,507	-7,699	14,494	1,730
Non-EMU	Abroad	55,375	-1,450	-8,944	-29,669	37,914	-751	-22,683	-10,426	-17,587
	In Ireland	113,579	85,942	-66,290	30,083	4,168	117,981	11,775	49,934	-21,102
EU	Abroad	-49,705	-14,810	22,806	-29,166	-11,629	3,179	12,189	7,555	2,832
	In Ireland	-171,849	-26,749	70,296	-31,676	22,319	-87,688	-7,526	15,347	2,145
Non-EU	Abroad	57,851	-47	-14,675	-31,382	39,425	6,585	-22,814	-10,475	-18,707
	In Ireland	158,219	99,198	-68,286	27,447	10,876	129,161	11,603	49,081	-21,516

Portfolio Investment	Assets	130,810	321,381	44,528	27,087	132,169	117,597	-113,863	168,713	54,253
	Liabilities	93,210	292,208	34,263	37,023	138,786	82,136	-30,726	86,405	43,517

EMU	Assets	11,759	100,546	11,095	10,759	39,696	38,996	-40,503	41,690	18,737
	Liabilities	57,256	121,668	932	25,578	64,233	30,925	-10,239	39,579	31,852
Non-EMU	Assets	119,051	220,836	33,433	16,328	92,474	78,601	-73,359	127,023	35,516
	Liabilities	35,954	170,540	33,331	11,445	74,553	51,211	-20,487	46,826	11,666
EU	Assets	36,839	173,247	31,586	13,058	71,124	57,479	-42,969	46,578	18,277
	Liabilities	73,529	264,381	35,024	30,862	132,013	66,482	-11,084	42,809	31,613
Non-EU	Assets	93,970	148,134	12,942	14,029	61,045	60,118	-70,894	122,135	35,977
	Liabilities	19,681	27,827	-761	6,161	6,773	15,654	-19,641	43,595	11,904

Other Investment³	Assets	-1,932	114,860	54,657	27,488	56,690	-23,975	178,561	-57,388	23,160
	Liabilities	90,375	123,464	59,753	18,107	40,005	5,599	104,998	-40,381	35,047

EMU	Assets	-3,854	102,986	48,354	8,922	44,793	917	57,138	4,102	18,299
	Liabilities	15,135	52,528	30,939	7,711	12,744	1,134	19,451	-226	4,357
Non-EMU	Assets	1,923	11,873	6,303	18,565	11,897	-24,892	121,423	-61,490	4,861
	Liabilities	75,240	70,937	28,815	10,396	27,261	4,465	85,548	-40,156	30,691
EU	Assets	6,043	107,279	57,170	975	49,624	-490	58,759	5,976	17,763
	Liabilities	52,748	87,078	50,144	10,436	12,205	14,293	19,131	1,173	3,604
Non-EU	Assets	-7,975	7,580	-2,513	26,512	7,066	-23,485	119,801	-63,363	5,397
	Liabilities	37,629	36,386	9,609	7,671	27,800	-8,694	85,867	-41,554	31,444

Reserve Assets		770	429	2	121	125	181	138	19	695

Balance on Financial Account		-32,163	-66,309	11,291	-56,754	4,795	-25,641	-24,138	-2,027	3,041

Net errors and omissions		240	9,235	8,910	-6,850	-1,673	8,848	-4,760	-5,787	-7,746
¹See footnote 1 on Table 1.4.
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 (EMU-19). For years 2018 and 2019, the term ‘EU’ relates to transactions between residents of Ireland and other residents of the EU-28 area. From Q12020, the term ‘EU’ relates to transactions between residents of Ireland and other residents of the EU-27 area, which excludes the United Kingdom following their withdrawal from the European Union on 1 February 2020.
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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International Accounts Q3 2020

Balance of International Payments

Balance of International Payments

Current account balance of €12.7bn in Quarter 3 2020

Current account (see Table 1.3)

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

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