Balance of International Payments
The Balance of Payments current account, a measure of Ireland’s economic flows with the rest of the world, showed a surplus of €23bn in the third quarter of 2024 up €4.3bn on the Q3 2023 surplus of €18.6bn due to an increase in the merchandise balance.
null
| Current Account |
| Q2 2022 | 9.75813625654494 |
|---|
| Q3 2022 | 7.89283298001894 |
|---|
| Q4 2022 | 5.85002694618576 |
|---|
| Q1 2023 | 9.25099682331505 |
|---|
| Q2 2023 | 9.03677156955853 |
|---|
| Q3 2023 | 14.3336175845611 |
|---|
| Q4 2023 | -0.410091629454137 |
|---|
| Q1 2024 | 11.8922558901047 |
|---|
| Q2 2024 | 28.200499583045 |
|---|
| Q3 2024 | 16.6754344898466 |
|---|
normal
| Merchandise | Services | Primary Income | Secondary Income | Balance on Current Account |
| Q2 2022 | 47.812 | 3.969 | -38.363 | -1.174 | 12.244 |
|---|
| Q3 2022 | 56.515 | 1.192 | -45.642 | -1.128 | 10.937 |
|---|
| Q4 2022 | 54.578 | -4.849 | -40.621 | -1.224 | 7.884 |
|---|
| Q1 2023 | 53.764 | 1.052 | -41.815 | -1.196 | 11.805 |
|---|
| Q2 2023 | 35.785 | 7.184 | -30.46 | -1.161 | 11.348 |
|---|
| Q3 2023 | 36.843 | 10.763 | -27.863 | -1.113 | 18.629 |
|---|
| Q4 2023 | 29.667 | -7.28 | -21.524 | -1.382 | -0.52 |
|---|
| Q1 2024 | 38.814 | 9.294 | -32.043 | -1.174 | 14.891 |
|---|
| Q2 2024 | 39.533 | 24.485 | -27.382 | -1.156 | 35.481 |
|---|
| Q3 2024 | 43.816 | 9.876 | -29.68 | -1.034 | 22.978 |
|---|
- Merchandise exports were €82,468m in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of €11,085m compared with the third quarter of 2023. Merchandise imports were €38,652m in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of €4,112m over the same period in 2023.
- Service exports at €115,018m increased by €13,579m compared to the third quarter of 2023, mainly due to higher computer services exports which increased by €9,422m.
- Service imports at €105,143m were up €14,467m over the same period in 2023, mainly due to higher royalty imports which increased by €7,235m and increased business service imports up €5,156m.
- Ireland’s trade balance at €53,692m, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports increased by €6,086m in the third quarter of 2024 over the same period in 2023.
- Investment income earned abroad at €71,519m, increased by €9,170m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €101,263m increased by €11,026m. The overall income balance for the quarter at -€30,714m decreased by €1,738m compared with the same period in 2023.
normal
- Direct investment in Ireland increased by €11,261m in the third quarter of 2024. This was due to an increase in equity investment of €6,328m, as well as increased reinvested earnings of €4,009m and increased other capital investment of €925m. Direct investment abroad increased by €7,588m in the quarter, due to increased other capital investment of €4,266m and increased equity investment and reinvestment earnings of €3,321m (combined total).
- Portfolio investment in foreign assets increased by €156,801m in the quarter due to increased investment in foreign equity and debt instruments (up €47,879m and €108,921m respectively). Portfolio investment in Ireland increased by €138,576m mainly due to an increase in equity investment of €124,306m as well as increased debt instruments of €14,270m.
- Other investment assets grew by €16,345m while other investment liabilities grew by €7,793m in the third quarter of 2024.
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 Account activity classified by Institutional Sector
Table 1.6 Current and Capital Accounts showing geographical detail
Table 1.7 Financial Account showing geographical detail
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
