You are here: Home / Statistics / International Accounts Q4 2018 / Balance of International Payments

International Accounts Q4 2018

Balance of International Payments

Open in Excel:

Current account surplus of €178m in Quarter 4 2018

Table 1.1 Balance of International Payments				€ million
	Merchandise Balance	Services and Income Balance	Current Account Balance	Current Account Balance as % of GDP
Q4 2018	27,262	-27,084	178	0.2
Q4 2017	30,147	-20,736	9,411	11.9
Q1-Q4 2018	109,695	-80,700	28,996	9.1
Q1-Q4 2017	107,639	-82,713	24,924	8.5

Open in Excel: Balance of International Payments Q4 2018 Table 1.1 (XLS 24KB)

The Balance of Payments current account, a measure of Ireland’s economic flows with the rest of the world, showed a small surplus in the fourth quarter of 2018, at €178m, mainly due to higher imports of intellectual property. The current account balance for the year 2018, at €29bn, is up €4bn on the balance in year 2017 of €25bn (see Table 1.2).

X-axis label	Current Account
Q1 2016	1.06318090912632
Q2 2016	-7.1128111697673
Q3 2016	-1.79400283538553
Q4 2016	-8.43679431962108
Q1 2017	7.41879100789745
Q2 2017	-4.79270637603034
Q3 2017	17.6914147089169
Q4 2017	11.873009170544
Q1 2018	12.3415854034528
Q2 2018	13.3594368322988
Q3 2018	11.1814347323132
Q4 2018	0.214055260758007

X-axis label	Merchandise	Services	Primary Income	Secondary Income	Balance on Current account
Q1 2016	27.29	-14.564	-11.001	-1.02	0.705
Q2 2016	24.44	-16.885	-11.342	-0.768	-4.555
Q3 2016	26.315	-12.294	-14.425	-0.82	-1.224
Q4 2016	28.043	-19.992	-13.144	-1.205	-6.299
Q1 2017	25.032	-5.356	-13.684	-0.936	5.056
Q2 2017	23.545	-9.642	-15.647	-1.558	-3.303
Q3 2017	28.915	0.681	-14.829	-1.006	13.76
Q4 2017	30.147	-4.034	-15.613	-1.089	9.411
Q1 2018	27.078	-1.25	-14.971	-1.306	9.552
Q2 2018	28.977	-1.97	-15.429	-1.416	10.162
Q3 2018	26.378	0.61	-16.696	-1.188	9.104
Q4 2018	27.262	-7.632	-18.279	-1.173	0.178

Other points of note in the Quarter 4 2018 results are:

Current account (see Table 1.3)

Merchandise exports were €56,066m in the fourth quarter of 2018, an increase of €3,395m compared with the fourth quarter of 2017. Merchandise imports were €28,804m in the fourth quarter of 2018, an increase of €6,281m compared with the same period in 2017.

Service exports at €49,484m increased by €5,756m compared to the fourth quarter of 2017, mainly due to higher computer services exports.
Service imports at €57,116m were up €9,354m over the same period in 2017. These figures were largely affected by increased payments for R&D services, mainly intellectual property.
Ireland’s Trade Balance at €19,630m, all goods and services exports less all goods and services imports, decreased by €6,484m in the fourth quarter of 2018, over the same period in 2017.
Investment income earned abroad at €17,816m, decreased by €2,103m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to foreign investors at €36,441m increased by €607m. The overall Income balance for the quarter at -€19,452m was €2,750m lower than the same period in 2017.

X-axis label	Direct Investment	Portfolio Investment	Other Investment	Reserve Assets	Balance on Financial Account
Q1 2016	12.279	-7.497	1.42	1.095	7.297
Q2 2016	-0.293	2.933	-14.069	-0.224	-11.653
Q3 2016	-10.522	10.385	-7.662	0.379	-7.42
Q4 2016	-9.894	21.89	-8.762	0.206	3.441
Q1 2017	-4.669	-13.224	-1.406	-0.101	-19.4
Q2 2017	4.186	-45.62	37.482	0.163	-3.789
Q3 2017	4.069	0.598	6.773	0.235	11.675
Q4 2017	-37.167	2.931	50.327	0.102	16.192
Q1 2018	26.339	7.45	-20.09	-0.022	13.677
Q2 2018	10.209	-29.445	33.781	0.005	14.55
Q3 2018	10.96	-2.86	1.002	0.209	9.311
Q4 2018	19.943	13.921	-46.182	0.578	-11.74

Financial account (see Tables 1.4 and 1.5)

Direct investment in Ireland increased by €19,711m in the fourth quarter of 2018. This change was driven by increases in equity of €8,997m and other capital of €12,516m. Direct investment abroad increased by €39,653m in the quarter, mainly due to increased equity investment of €62,081m.
Portfolio investment in foreign assets increased by €13,183m in the quarter. Investment in foreign equity decreased by €4,195m while investment in foreign debt instruments increased by €17,378m. Portfolio investment in Ireland decreased by €738m, where a fall in Irish debt instruments of €2,349m were partially offset by increased Irish equity of €1,611m.
Other investment assets decreased by €31,119m while Other investment liabilities increased by €15,062m in the fourth quarter of 2018, both mainly due to the activity of IFSC enterprises.

Table 1.2 Summary of Current, Capital, Financial Account Balances

Table 1.2 Summary of Current, Capital and Financial Account Balances														€ million
Period		Merchandise¹	Services and Income Balance				Balance on Current Account	Balance on Capital Account	Direct Investment	Portfolio Investment	Other ² Investment	Reserve Assets	Balance on Financial Account	Net errors and omissions
			Services and Income Balance
			Services	Primary Income	Secondary Income	Total
1998	Year	17,510	-8,426	-9,776	1,319	-16,883	627	840	-4,422	8,466	-7,459	2,280	-1,135	-2,602
1999	Year	22,170	-9,723	-13,398	1,177	-21,944	226	560	-11,459	14,442	974	-1,746	2,211	1,425
2000	Year	28,312	-13,312	-15,327	994	-27,645	667	1182	-22,957	5,458	9,047	142	-8,310	-10,159
2001	Year	31,464	-12,412	-17,762	-1,075	-31,249	215	779	-6,241	25,158	-19,193	441	165	-829
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	-6769	-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	107,639	-18,351	-59,773	-4,589	-82,713	24,924	-28,168	-33,581	-55,315	93,176	399	4,678	7,922
2018	Year	109,695	-10,242	-65,375	-5,083	-80,700	28,996	-22,395	67,451	-10,934	-31,489	770	25,798	19,197

2009	Quarter 1	9,692	-4,189	-7,362	-960	-12,512	-2,820	-3	858	2,331	-1,326	-41	1,822	4,646
	Quarter 2	10,140	-3,835	-7,826	-748	-12,410	-2,270	-1	-1,409	15,776	-24,678	62	-10,249	-7,978
	Quarter 3	9,783	-2,514	-7,582	-633	-10,729	-946	-10	7,349	-26,570	21,337	-3	2,113	3,069
	Quarter 4	9,137	-5,285	-5,114	-607	-11,005	-1,868	28	-7,044	-14,163	24,100	-97	2,796	4,637
2010	Quarter 1	10,235	-2,824	-7,978	-879	-11,681	-1,446	50	-4,772	-19,821	31,668	-32	7,043	8,439
	Quarter 2	10,555	-3,342	-8,026	-590	-11,957	-1,402	4	-3,249	8,568	-18,338	19	-13,001	-11,602
	Quarter 3	11,985	-2,955	-7,152	-704	-10,811	1,174	14	1,178	19,581	-25,745	76	-4,910	-6,098
	Quarter 4	8,513	-4,300	-4,022	-528	-8,850	-337	23	-9,475	-94,293	103,299	-68	-537	-222
2011	Quarter 1	10,624	-2,926	-8,278	-841	-12,046	-1,422	24	-8,453	-7,063	11,286	-65	-4,295	-2,897
	Quarter 2	9,576	-1,580	-8,820	-513	-10,913	-1,336	1	-7,601	-22,344	27,157	29	-2,759	-1,424
	Quarter 3	11,547	-1,862	-8,307	-641	-10,810	736	-1	-6,802	19,456	-16,652	-24	-4,022	-4,757
	Quarter 4	9,510	-2,729	-6,906	-664	-10,299	-789	210	4,158	-16,957	9,295	-269	-3,772	-3,194
2012	Quarter 1	8,969	-1,805	-9,051	-814	-11,670	-2,702	61	-13,176	44,957	-32,626	-12	-857	1,784
	Quarter 2	9,275	-2,603	-8,488	-603	-11,694	-2,419	1	3,238	-33,254	20,949	6	-9,061	-6,643
	Quarter 3	10,072	-327	-8,632	-643	-9,602	471	5	-14,231	-6,315	17,833	-1	-2,714	-3,190
	Quarter 4	8,580	-1,547	-7,768	-549	-9,864	-1,284	19	3,672	-6,155	4,796	-5	2,308	3,573
2013	Quarter 1	7,726	-578	-7,146	-828	-8,552	-826	-207	-5,114	6,365	1,731	0	2,982	4,015
	Quarter 2	9,638	-564	-8,095	-700	-9,359	279	-244	-8,296	11,868	-4,657	1	-1,084	-1,120
	Quarter 3	9,816	634	-7,154	-663	-7,183	2,632	-259	-1,371	932	1,709	4	1,274	-1,100
	Quarter 4	7,326	-210	-5,674	-740	-6,624	702	-226	-1,356	16,572	-14,250	5	971	494
2014	Quarter 1	8,939	-1,820	-7,567	-899	-10,286	-1,347	-1,691	2,726	-12,658	3,620	0	-6,312	-3,274
	Quarter 2	11,286	-1,449	-8,117	-608	-10,174	1,112	-1,717	-3,671	-4,567	12,119	1	3,882	4,487
	Quarter 3	10,985	151	-7,891	-545	-8,285	2,700	-1,649	-485	-15,427	9,887	2	-6,023	-7,075
	Quarter 4	9,521	-2,428	-6,766	-698	-9,892	-372	-1,712	-3,849	4,790	-5,120	133	-4,045	-1,962
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	25,032	-5,356	-13,684	-936	-19,976	5,056	-14,100	-4,669	-13,224	-1,406	-101	-19,400	-10,355
	Quarter 2	23,545	-9,642	-15,647	-1,558	-26,847	-3,303	-6,237	4,186	-45,620	37,482	163	-3,789	5,751
	Quarter 3	28,915	681	-14,829	-1,006	-15,154	13,760	-5,971	4,069	598	6,773	235	11,675	3,886
	Quarter 4	30,147	-4,034	-15,613	-1,089	-20,736	9,411	-1,860	-37,167	2,931	50,327	102	16,192	8,640
2018	Quarter 1	27,078	-1,250	-14,971	-1,306	-17,527	9,552	-437	26,339	7,450	-20,090	-22	13,677	4,562
	Quarter 2	28,977	-1,970	-15,429	-1,416	-18,815	10,162	-363	10,209	-29,445	33,781	5	14,550	4,751
	Quarter 3	26,378	610	-16,696	-1,188	-17,274	9,104	-35	10,960	-2,860	1,002	209	9,311	242
	Quarter 4	27,262	-7,632	-18,279	-1,173	-27,084	178	-21,560	19,943	13,921	-46,182	578	-11,740	9,642
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: Balance of International Payments Q4 2018 Table 1.2 (XLS 20KB)

Visit Table BPQ15 on PxStat

Table 1.3 Current and Capital Accounts

Table 1.3 Current and Capital Accounts											€ million
		2017	2018	2017				2018
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4
Current Account
Merchandise¹	Exports	192,854	208,237	45,963	45,793	48,427	52,671	48,485	52,283	51,403	56,066
	Imports	85,214	98,542	20,931	22,248	19,512	22,523	21,407	23,306	25,025	28,804

International trade	Exports	122,539	140,312	32,134	31,030	28,921	30,454	33,514	35,482	33,929	37,387
	Imports	76,677	87,175	18,639	20,519	17,278	20,241	19,327	20,506	22,566	24,776
Goods for processing	Exports	64,668	62,521	15,672	12,985	15,872	20,139	13,821	14,855	16,276	17,569
	Imports	5,575	8,693	1,601	975	1,508	1,491	1,629	2,087	1,756	3,221
Other conceptual adjustments	Exports	-1,947	-2,150	-4,096	-203	2,307	45	-721	165	-361	-1,233
	Imports	2,961	2,674	690	753	727	791	451	714	703	806
Merchanting (net export)	Exports	7,593	7,554	2,253	1,980	1,327	2,033	1,871	1,781	1,559	2,343

Services	Exports	159,701	175,571	36,234	39,477	40,262	43,728	38,205	42,118	45,764	49,484
	Imports	178,054	185,813	41,591	49,120	39,581	47,762	39,455	44,088	45,154	57,116
Repairs and Processing	Exports	2,254	1,699	527	545	605	577	476	370	336	517
	Imports	4,855	5,541	1,169	1,136	1,049	1,501	1,077	1,092	1,273	2,099
Transport	Exports	8,086	7,768	1,190	2,147	3,099	1,650	1,228	2,111	2,832	1,597
	Imports	2,540	2,935	623	663	583	671	642	678	734	881
Tourism and Travel²	Exports	4,972	5,237	708	1,433	1,762	1,069	817	1,500	1,847	1,073
	Imports	5,814	6,328	1,077	1,407	2,063	1,267	1,239	1,566	2,106	1,417
Insurance	Exports	9,913	9,544	2,496	2,451	2,373	2,593	2,526	2,398	2,275	2,345
	Imports	7,079	7,668	1,734	1,801	1,689	1,855	2,088	1,998	1,906	1,676
Financial services	Exports	15,309	15,175	3,764	3,637	3,865	4,043	3,886	3,784	3,770	3,735
	Imports	13,246	13,274	3,278	3,162	3,320	3,486	3,386	3,307	3,276	3,305
Royalties/Licences	Exports	9,608	12,202	1,783	1,974	2,946	2,905	2,716	3,464	3,191	2,831
	Imports	66,588	71,595	16,690	16,700	15,198	18,000	16,237	17,869	17,896	19,593
of which: Pharmaceutical products and preparations	Exports	184	70	46	45	45	48	30	14	13	13
	Imports	15,898	12,530	4,475	4,544	3,486	3,393	2,873	3,474	2,954	3,229
Information and communication	Exports	2,472	4,142	177	*	*	1,069	1,121	1,406	1,009	606
	Imports	34,105	40,595	7,888	8,315	7,752	10,150	8,845	9,768	10,234	11,748
Communications	Exports	617	555	156	157	152	152	147	142	138	128
	Imports	1,145	1,087	256	289	292	308	268	268	274	277
Computer services³	Exports	69,323	85,695	15,851	17,045	16,492	19,935	18,477	20,211	21,274	25,733
	Imports	3,353	4,384	550	787	859	1,157	839	1,086	1,085	1,374
Business services	Exports	37,075	35,652	9,304	9,547	8,570	9,654	7,445	7,895	9,278	11,034
	Imports	72,868	72,433	16,073	23,033	14,388	19,374	13,536	16,082	16,463	26,352
Research and development	Exports	4,907	2,709	1,178	1,161	1,041	1,527	537	540	517	1,115
	Imports	26,832	23,629	5,866	12,192	3,297	5,477	3,403	3,944	4,232	12,050
of which: IP related	Exports	3,086	*	*	*	586	1,162	50	13	12	*
	Imports	14,034	7,460	2,839	9,139	*	*	104	*	67	*
Operational leasing	Exports	13,105	12,586	3,295	3,225	3,357	3,228	2,994	3,022	3,206	3,364
	Imports	696	542	304	143	131	118	122	124	154	142
Misc. business services⁴	Exports	19,062	20,357	4,830	5,161	4,172	4,899	3,914	4,334	5,555	6,554
	Imports	45,340	48,263	9,903	10,697	10,960	13,780	10,012	12,014	12,077	14,160
Other services n.e.s.	Exports	2,546	2,047	456	541	399	1,150	488	244	823	492
	Imports	564	567	140	142	140	142	141	142	141	143

Merchandise and Services - Total	Exports	352,555	383,809	82,197	85,270	88,689	96,399	86,690	94,402	97,167	105,550
	Imports	263,268	284,355	62,521	71,367	59,094	70,286	60,862	67,395	70,178	85,920

Trade Balance	Net	89,289	99,454	19,676	13,903	29,596	26,114	25,829	27,007	26,988	19,630

Primary Income	Inflows	78,224	82,881	17,934	20,516	19,294	20,480	18,162	23,448	22,855	18,416
	Outflows	137,996	148,257	31,617	36,163	34,123	36,093	33,133	38,877	39,552	36,695
Compensation of Employees	Inflows	528	528	131	131	135	131	131	131	135	131
	Outflows	645	639	160	161	160	164	159	158	160	162
Investment Income	Inflows	76,189	80,787	17,456	20,037	18,777	19,919	17,672	22,963	22,336	17,816
	Outflows	137,035	147,311	31,384	35,933	33,884	35,834	32,897	38,654	39,319	36,441
Direct investment income	Inflows	20,728	18,559	4,258	4,498	5,142	6,830	3,868	5,832	5,955	2,904
	Outflows	72,048	74,469	16,749	17,322	18,108	19,869	17,374	18,070	21,072	17,953
Income on equity	Inflows	18,079	16,265	3,511	3,762	4,495	6,311	3,599	5,187	5,252	2,227
	Outflows	65,966	68,729	15,081	15,757	16,646	18,482	16,145	16,716	19,570	16,298
Dividends & distributed	Inflows	630	2,167	33	294	59	244	44	*	248	*
branch profits	Outflows	12,936	15,987	3,046	2,854	4,277	2,759	3,963	3,744	4,497	3,783
Reinvested earnings	Inflows	17,450	14,097	3,478	3,469	4,436	6,067	3,555	*	5,004	*
	Outflows	53,029	52,743	12,034	12,903	12,369	15,723	12,182	12,972	15,073	12,516
Income on debt	Inflows	2,649	2,293	746	736	647	520	269	645	702	677
	Outflows	6,084	5,739	1,668	1,565	1,463	1,388	1,229	1,354	1,502	1,654
Portfolio investment income	Inflows	45,557	50,715	10,653	12,966	11,177	10,761	11,351	14,350	13,145	11,869
	Outflows	54,714	61,488	12,170	16,089	13,188	13,267	13,068	17,722	15,254	15,444
Income on equity	Inflows	14,619	16,484	3,261	5,032	3,500	2,826	3,388	5,754	4,357	2,985
	Outflows	48,043	55,231	10,434	14,380	11,552	11,677	11,566	16,194	13,735	13,736
Income on debt	Inflows	30,939	34,231	7,393	7,934	7,677	7,935	7,963	8,595	8,788	8,885
	Outflows	6,672	6,258	1,737	1,709	1,636	1,590	1,502	1,528	1,519	1,709
Other investment income	Inflows	9,904	11,515	2,545	2,573	2,458	2,328	2,453	2,782	3,237	3,043
	Outflows	10,272	11,354	2,464	2,522	2,588	2,698	2,456	2,861	2,993	3,044
Other primary income	Inflows	1,504	1,567	346	347	382	429	360	354	384	469
	Outflows	317	309	74	69	79	95	77	66	74	92

Secondary Income	Inflows	5,154	4,879	1,277	1,127	1,431	1,319	1,370	1,131	1,115	1,263
	Outflows	9,744	9,964	2,213	2,685	2,438	2,408	2,676	2,548	2,303	2,437

Income Balance	Net	-64,363	-70,458	-14,620	-17,205	-15,836	-16,702	-16,276	-16,846	-17,884	-19,452

Current Account - Total	Inflows	435,934	471,571	101,408	106,913	109,415	118,198	106,223	118,981	121,137	125,230
	Outflows	411,009	442,576	96,352	110,216	95,655	108,786	96,671	108,820	112,033	125,052

Current Account Balance	Net	24,924	28,996	5,056	-3,303	13,760	9,411	9,552	10,162	9,104	178

Capital Account Balance	Net	-28,168	-22,395	-14,100	-6,237	-5,971	-1,860	-437	-363	-35	-21,560

Memorandum Item:
Government Income	Inflows	93	1,667	21	23	25	24	386	379	407	495
	Outflows	3,675	3,800	958	942	936	839	946	968	943	943
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.
*data suppressed for confidentiality reasons

Open in Excel: Balance of International Payments Q4 2018 Table 1.3 (XLS 19KB)

Visit Table BPQ19 on PxStat

Table 1.4 Financial Account

Table 1.4 Financial Account¹											€ million
		2017	2018	2017				2018
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4

Direct Investment	Abroad	-34,690	11,244	127	15,417	8,118	-58,352	3,520	-33,811	1,882	39,653
	In Ireland	-1,109	-56,206	4,796	11,231	4,049	-21,185	-22,818	-44,020	-9,079	19,711

Equity	Abroad	-65,888	-10,613	-23,160	27,062	-8,271	-61,519	-7,605	-63,486	-1,603	62,081
	In Ireland	-35,529	-53,729	19,279	-13,025	260	-42,043	-10,882	-50,392	-1,452	8,997
Reinvested Earnings	Abroad	17,450	14,097	3,478	3,469	4,436	6,067	3,555	*	5,004	*
	In Ireland	53,029	52,743	12,034	12,903	12,369	15,723	12,182	12,972	15,073	12,516
Other Capital	Abroad	13,749	7,759	19,809	-15,113	11,953	-2,900	7,571	*	-1,520	*
	In Ireland	-18,608	-55,222	-26,517	11,354	-8,580	5,135	-24,118	-6,601	-22,700	-1,803

Portfolio Investment	Assets	253,689	127,295	79,441	40,091	64,731	69,426	80,507	8,341	25,264	13,183
	Liabilities	309,004	138,228	92,665	85,711	64,133	66,495	73,057	37,785	28,124	-738

Equity	Assets	94,474	48,687	24,400	25,928	26,227	17,919	29,066	11,896	11,920	-4,195
	Liabilities	306,047	127,262	76,748	91,641	69,791	67,867	62,573	37,444	25,634	1,611
Debt Instruments	Assets	159,213	78,609	55,041	14,163	38,503	51,506	51,442	-3,555	13,344	17,378
	Liabilities	2,957	10,966	15,917	-5,930	-5,658	-1,372	10,484	341	2,490	-2,349
Bonds and notes	Assets	115,363	70,721	33,236	37,623	21,698	22,806	33,949	9,374	21,720	5,678
	Liabilities	-816	16,366	12,119	-9,263	-4,729	1,057	7,658	866	7,516	326
Money market instruments	Assets	43,850	7,888	21,805	-23,460	16,805	28,700	17,493	-12,929	-8,376	11,700
	Liabilities	3,775	-5,398	3,799	3,333	-928	-2,429	2,826	-524	-5,025	-2,675

Other Investment	Assets	94,497	128,998	-22,578	33,470	33,034	50,571	31,514	89,705	38,898	-31,119
	Liabilities	1,321	160,487	-21,173	-4,011	26,261	244	51,604	55,925	37,896	15,062

Loans, currency and deposits	Assets	105,547	53,602	5,018	32,982	19,579	47,968	22,547	36,938	14,950	-20,833
	Liabilities	24,897	115,942	15,171	1,169	16,012	-7,455	34,571	24,687	17,949	38,735
Other²	Assets	-11,049	75,397	-27,596	488	13,456	2,603	8,967	52,768	23,948	-10,286
	Liabilities	-23,577	44,546	-36,344	-5,180	10,248	7,699	17,032	31,238	19,948	-23,672

Reserve Assets		399	770	-101	163	235	102	-22	5	209	578

Monetary gold		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Special drawing rights		-43	14	12	0	-39	-16	-16	5	15	10
Reserve position in the IMF		0	-1	0	0	0	0	-11	10	0	0
Foreign exchange		158	249	43	148	90	-123	-14	1	-37	299
Other		285	508	-156	15	185	241	19	-11	231	269

Balance on Financial Account		4,678	25,798	-19,400	-3,789	11,675	16,192	13,677	14,550	9,311	-11,740

Net errors and omissions		7,922	19,197	-10,355	5,751	3,886	8,640	4,562	4,751	242	9,642
Memorandum Item:
Government financial	Assets	426	14,211	46	407	27	-54	-1,095	4,367	9,886	1,053
transactions	Liabilities	1,377	17,088	6,543	2,995	-631	-7,530	5,771	7,549	9,749	-5,981
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.
*data suppressed for confidentiality reasons

Open in Excel: Balance of International Payments Q4 2018 Table 1.4 (XLS 15KB)

Visit Table BPQ17 on PxStat

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

Table 1.5 Current, Capital and Financial Accounts showing IFSC¹ and Non–IFSC activity											€ million
		2017	2018	2017				2018
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4
Current Account - Total	Inflows	435,934	471,571	101,408	106,913	109,415	118,198	106,223	118,981	121,137	125,230
	Outflows	411,009	442,576	96,352	110,216	95,655	108,786	96,671	108,820	112,033	125,052

Merchandise²	Exports	192,854	208,237	45,963	45,793	48,427	52,671	48,485	52,283	51,403	56,066
	Imports	85,214	98,542	20,931	22,248	19,512	22,523	21,407	23,306	25,025	28,804

Services	Exports	159,701	175,571	36,234	39,477	40,262	43,728	38,205	42,118	45,764	49,484
	Imports	178,054	185,813	41,591	49,120	39,581	47,762	39,455	44,088	45,154	57,116

IFSC	Exports	39,051	38,099	9,705	9,671	9,707	9,968	9,528	9,490	9,357	9,724
	Imports	23,307	24,883	5,821	5,610	5,747	6,129	6,447	6,441	6,051	5,944
Non-IFSC	Exports	120,652	137,472	26,529	29,807	30,555	33,761	28,676	32,629	36,406	39,761
	Imports	154,748	160,929	35,770	43,510	33,834	41,634	33,007	37,647	39,103	51,172

Primary Income	Inflows	78,224	82,881	17,934	20,516	19,294	20,480	18,162	23,448	22,855	18,416
	Outflows	137,996	148,257	31,617	36,163	34,123	36,093	33,133	38,877	39,552	36,695

IFSC	Inflows	58,578	64,491	14,257	16,307	14,236	13,778	14,106	17,600	17,105	15,680
	Outflows	64,820	72,321	15,466	18,031	15,800	15,523	16,622	19,532	18,571	17,596
Non-IFSC	Inflows	19,644	18,393	3,676	4,208	5,058	6,702	4,057	5,848	5,751	2,737
	Outflows	73,176	75,937	16,151	18,132	18,323	20,570	16,511	19,346	20,981	19,099

Secondary Income	Inflows	5,154	4,879	1,277	1,127	1,431	1,319	1,370	1,131	1,115	1,263
	Outflows	9,744	9,964	2,213	2,685	2,438	2,408	2,676	2,548	2,303	2,437

IFSC³	Inflows	4,324	4,157	1,038	885	1,241	1,160	1,213	975	977	992
	Outflows	4,324	4,157	1,038	885	1,241	1,160	1,213	975	977	992
Non-IFSC	Inflows	830	724	238	243	190	159	157	157	138	272
	Outflows	5,420	5,807	1,175	1,800	1,197	1,248	1,463	1,573	1,326	1,445

Balance on Current Account		24,924	28,996	5,056	-3,303	13,760	9,411	9,552	10,162	9,104	178

Balance on Capital Account		-28,168	-22,395	-14,100	-6,237	-5,971	-1,860	-437	-363	-35	-21,560

Financial Account⁴
Direct investment	Abroad	-34,690	11,244	127	15,417	8,118	-58,352	3,520	-33,811	1,882	39,653
	In Ireland	-1,109	-56,206	4,796	11,231	4,049	-21,185	-22,818	-44,020	-9,079	19,711

IFSC	Abroad	6,653	-802	*	*	-47	1,194	-2,852	1,130	52	868
	In Ireland	8,124	-16,923	-1,284	-14,189	1,398	22,199	-13,516	-3,475	6,339	-6,271
Non-IFSC	Abroad	-41,344	12,048	*	*	8,165	-59,547	6,373	-34,941	1,830	38,786
	In Ireland	-9,232	-39,285	6,080	25,421	2,651	-43,384	-9,302	-40,546	-15,418	25,981

Portfolio investment	Assets	253,689	127,295	79,441	40,091	64,731	69,426	80,507	8,341	25,264	13,183
	Liabilities	309,004	138,228	92,665	85,711	64,133	66,495	73,057	37,785	28,124	-738

IFSC	Assets	245,900	123,249	76,242	40,903	61,346	67,409	79,420	6,992	24,533	12,304
	Liabilities	306,633	133,085	86,510	84,788	66,578	68,757	65,778	32,160	29,118	6,029
Non-IFSC	Assets	7,790	4,048	3,199	-811	3,385	2,017	1,088	1,349	732	879
	Liabilities	2,372	5,145	6,156	923	-2,445	-2,262	7,280	5,625	-993	-6,767

Other investment⁵	Assets	94,497	128,998	-22,578	33,470	33,034	50,571	31,514	89,705	38,898	-31,119
	Liabilities	1,321	160,487	-21,173	-4,011	26,261	244	51,604	55,925	37,896	15,062

IFSC	Assets	90,837	107,743	-10,011	25,997	27,623	47,228	36,938	69,627	28,591	-27,413
	Liabilities	9,594	142,249	-11,775	-3,031	22,198	2,202	58,848	49,029	16,795	17,577
Non-IFSC	Assets	3,661	21,256	-12,567	7,473	5,412	3,343	-5,424	20,078	10,308	-3,706
	Liabilities	-8,273	18,238	-9,398	-980	4,063	-1,958	-7,245	6,896	21,101	-2,514

Reserve Assets		399	770	-101	163	235	102	-22	5	209	578

Balance on Financial Account		4,678	25,798	-19,400	-3,789	11,675	16,192	13,677	14,550	9,311	-11,740
Net errors and omissions		7,922	19,197	-10,355	5,751	3,886	8,640	4,562	4,751	242	9,642
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 2b.
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.
*data suppressed for confidentiality reasons

Open in Excel: Balance of International Payments Q4 2018 Table 1.5 (XLS 17KB)

Visit Table BPQ33 on PxStat

Table 1.6 Current and Capital Accounts showing geographical detail

Table 1.6 Current and Capital Accounts showing geographical¹ detail											€ million
		2017	2018	2017				2018
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4

Current Account - Total	Inflows	435,934	471,571	101,408	106,913	109,415	118,198	106,223	118,981	121,137	125,230
	Outflows	411,009	442,576	96,352	110,216	95,655	108,786	96,671	108,820	112,033	125,052

Merchandise²	Exports	192,854	208,237	45,963	45,793	48,427	52,671	48,485	52,283	51,403	56,066
	Imports	85,214	98,542	20,931	22,248	19,512	22,523	21,407	23,306	25,025	28,804
EMU	Exports	54,529	52,236	14,241	12,688	13,992	13,608	12,000	14,396	13,556	12,284
	Imports	28,509	33,333	7,555	7,516	6,376	7,062	7,286	8,592	8,941	8,514
Non-EMU	Exports	138,326	156,002	31,722	33,105	34,436	39,063	36,486	37,887	37,847	43,782
	Imports	56,704	65,209	13,375	14,732	13,136	15,461	14,120	14,715	16,084	20,290
EU	Exports	84,741	81,323	22,014	20,518	21,074	21,135	18,755	21,284	20,873	20,411
	Imports	53,833	60,157	13,464	13,889	12,471	14,009	13,569	15,007	15,544	16,037
Non-EU	Exports	108,113	126,915	23,949	25,274	27,354	31,536	29,731	30,999	30,530	35,655
	Imports	31,381	38,385	7,467	8,359	7,041	8,514	7,838	8,300	9,480	12,767

Services	Exports	159,701	175,571	36,234	39,477	40,262	43,728	38,205	42,118	45,764	49,484
	Imports	178,054	185,813	41,591	49,120	39,581	47,762	39,455	44,088	45,154	57,116
EMU	Exports	38,818	43,139	9,025	9,638	9,659	10,496	9,315	10,510	11,331	11,983
	Imports	43,459	46,296	9,483	11,070	9,631	13,275	10,233	11,546	11,657	12,860
Non-EMU	Exports	120,885	132,431	27,209	29,840	30,603	33,233	28,890	31,608	34,432	37,501
	Imports	134,594	139,516	32,107	38,050	29,950	34,487	29,221	32,542	33,496	44,257
EU	Exports	74,074	80,872	16,998	18,497	18,784	19,795	17,741	19,701	21,180	22,250
	Imports	62,191	67,020	13,779	15,491	14,243	18,678	15,148	16,647	16,909	18,316
Non-EU	Exports	85,629	94,699	19,236	20,981	21,478	23,934	20,464	22,418	24,583	27,234
	Imports	115,864	118,793	27,812	33,629	25,339	29,084	24,307	27,441	28,245	38,800

Primary Income	Inflows	78,224	82,881	17,934	20,516	19,294	20,480	18,162	23,448	22,855	18,416
	Outflows	137,996	148,257	31,617	36,163	34,123	36,093	33,133	38,877	39,552	36,695
EMU	Inflows	28,638	30,667	6,573	7,378	7,273	7,414	6,953	8,407	8,815	6,492
	Outflows	50,331	55,867	9,910	13,731	13,796	12,894	13,327	15,466	15,593	11,481
Non-EMU	Inflows	49,586	52,214	11,361	13,138	12,021	13,066	11,209	15,041	14,040	11,924
	Outflows	87,664	92,391	21,707	22,432	20,327	23,198	19,806	23,412	23,958	25,215
EU	Inflows	49,597	52,930	11,753	12,523	12,380	12,941	12,193	14,279	14,770	11,688
	Outflows	79,525	89,926	16,728	21,566	21,399	19,832	20,393	25,006	24,474	20,053
Non-EU	Inflows	28,627	29,952	6,181	7,993	6,914	7,539	5,969	9,170	8,085	6,728
	Outflows	58,472	58,331	14,890	14,597	12,725	16,260	12,740	13,871	15,078	16,642

Secondary Income	Inflows	5,154	4,879	1,277	1,127	1,431	1,319	1,370	1,131	1,115	1,263
	Outflows	9,744	9,964	2,213	2,685	2,438	2,408	2,676	2,548	2,303	2,437
EMU	Inflows	1,846	1,726	420	280	524	622	445	359	438	484
	Outflows	2,615	2,604	543	488	740	844	637	576	671	720
Non-EMU	Inflows	3,308	3,153	857	847	907	697	925	772	677	779
	Outflows	7,128	7,360	1,670	2,197	1,697	1,564	2,039	1,972	1,632	1,717
EU	Inflows	4,112	3,831	1,015	853	1,140	1,104	1,029	900	889	1,013
	Outflows	7,908	8,069	1,768	2,209	1,973	1,958	2,163	2,103	1,878	1,925
Non-EU	Inflows	1,041	1,048	261	274	291	215	341	231	226	250
	Outflows	1,834	1,892	445	475	464	450	512	444	425	511

Balance on Current Account		24,924	28,996	5,056	-3,303	13,760	9,411	9,552	10,162	9,104	178

Balance on Capital Account		-28,168	-22,395	-14,100	-6,237	-5,971	-1,860	-437	-363	-35	-21,560

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.The term ‘EU’ relates to transactions between residents of Ireland and other residents of the EU-28 area. All data shown on this table relates to EMU-19 and EU-28.
²Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.

Open in Excel: Balance of International Payments Q4 2018 Table 1.6 (XLS 15KB)

Visit Table BPQ27 on PxStat

Table 1.7 Financial Account showing geographical detail

Table 1.7 Financial Account¹ showing geographical² detail											€ million
		2017	2018	2017				2018
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4

Direct Investment	Abroad	-34,690	11,244	127	15,417	8,118	-58,352	3,520	-33,811	1,882	39,653
	In Ireland	-1,109	-56,206	4,796	11,231	4,049	-21,185	-22,818	-44,020	-9,079	19,711

EMU	Abroad	-51,544	-28,377	-2,965	22,996	4,650	-76,225	-27,405	-35,721	-2,918	37,667
	In Ireland	52,407	-126,009	13,673	39,363	2,167	-2,796	-65,119	-49,837	3,963	-15,016
Non-EMU	Abroad	16,855	39,620	3,092	-7,578	3,468	17,873	30,926	1,909	4,799	1,986
	In Ireland	-53,515	69,802	-8,877	-28,131	1,882	-18,389	42,301	5,816	-13,042	34,727
EU	Abroad	-46,181	-25,263	-2,466	26,266	3,925	-73,906	-29,558	-33,500	-1,972	39,767
	In Ireland	55,127	-167,866	10,980	40,943	-1,318	4,522	-90,979	-49,511	2,930	-30,306
Non-EU	Abroad	11,491	36,507	2,593	-10,848	4,193	15,553	33,078	-311	3,854	-114
	In Ireland	-56,236	111,659	-6,184	-29,712	5,367	-25,707	68,161	5,491	-12,009	50,016

Portfolio Investment	Assets	253,689	127,295	79,441	40,091	64,731	69,426	80,507	8,341	25,264	13,183
	Liabilities	309,004	138,228	92,665	85,711	64,133	66,495	73,057	37,785	28,124	-738

EMU	Assets	51,988	25,821	15,981	11,707	6,660	17,640	11,470	-4,800	6,250	12,901
	Liabilities	106,093	60,762	37,925	29,997	15,955	22,216	25,761	15,294	11,642	8,065
Non-EMU	Assets	201,700	101,474	63,460	28,384	58,071	51,785	69,037	13,141	19,014	282
	Liabilities	202,911	77,467	54,740	55,714	48,178	44,279	47,296	22,491	16,483	-8,803
EU	Assets	121,500	6,168	40,562	31,780	6,285	42,873	14,095	-1,789	21,457	-27,595
	Liabilities	271,410	110,518	82,391	74,686	48,901	65,432	55,205	25,162	18,939	11,212
Non-EU	Assets	132,189	121,127	38,879	8,312	58,446	26,552	66,412	10,129	3,807	40,779
	Liabilities	37,595	27,710	10,274	11,026	15,232	1,063	17,852	12,623	9,185	-11,950

Other Investment³	Assets	94,497	128,998	-22,578	33,470	33,034	50,571	31,514	89,705	38,898	-31,119
	Liabilities	1,321	160,487	-21,173	-4,011	26,261	244	51,604	55,925	37,896	15,062

EMU	Assets	35,191	12,741	5,232	9,471	-3,960	24,448	16,419	17,396	-9,636	-11,438
	Liabilities	-9,214	12,625	404	-5,244	3,805	-8,179	5,931	10,797	3,556	-7,659
Non-EMU	Assets	59,305	116,255	-27,811	23,999	36,994	26,123	15,094	72,309	48,534	-19,682
	Liabilities	10,535	147,863	-21,577	1,233	22,456	8,423	45,672	45,128	34,341	22,722
EU	Assets	122,297	135,812	29,803	23,528	24,543	44,423	34,749	64,652	21,433	14,978
	Liabilities	40,803	88,984	18,206	7,035	8,193	7,369	33,548	39,187	9,302	6,947
Non-EU	Assets	-27,800	-6,813	-52,381	9,942	8,491	6,148	-3,235	25,054	17,465	-46,097
	Liabilities	-39,481	71,502	-39,378	-11,047	18,068	-7,124	18,055	16,738	28,594	8,115

Reserve Assets		399	770	-101	163	235	102	-22	5	209	578

Balance on Financial Account		4,678	25,798	-19,400	-3,789	11,675	16,192	13,677	14,550	9,311	-11,740

Net errors and omissions		7,922	19,197	-10,355	5,751	3,886	8,640	4,562	4,751	242	9,642
¹See footnote 1 on Table 2b.
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.The term ‘EU’ relates to transactions between residents of Ireland and other residents of the EU-28 area. All data shown on this table relates to EMU-19 and EU-28.
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.