You are here: Home / Statistics / International Accounts Q4 2024 / Accounts with the UK and US

International Accounts Q4 2024

Accounts with the UK and US

Accounts with the UK and the US

Current Account Balances with UK and US both show deficits for Quarter 4 2024

Online ISSN: 2565-6384

CSO statistical release, 06 March 2025, 11am

Current account with UK shows a deficit of €5bn in Quarter 4 2024

	Merchandise	Services	Income	Current Account
Q3 2022	-2.369	4.39	-4.315	-2.295
Q4 2022	-2.209	4.372	-6.512	-4.147
Q1 2023	-2.209	3.862	-5.656	-4.003
Q2 2023	-1.313	3.64	-7.649	-5.323
Q3 2023	-1.889	4.548	-7.221	-4.562
Q4 2023	-2.21	4.704	-7.086	-4.592
Q1 2024	-0.99	3.269	-6.8	-4.521
Q2 2024	-1.415	3.982	-9.538	-6.971
Q3 2024	-1.78	5.658	-9.071	-5.194
Q4 2024	-1.839	5.278	-8.829	-5.389

Current account with UK (See Table 3.1)

Merchandise exports were €6,551m in the fourth quarter of 2024, an increase of €124m compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.
Merchandise imports were €8,390m in the fourth quarter of 2024, a decrease of €247m compared with the same period in 2023.
Services exports at €14,391m increased by €1,803m compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, mainly due to computer services exports.
Services imports at €9,113m were up €1,229m over that same period in 2023, these figures were affected by increased levels of financial and business services imports.
Investment income earned in UK at €11,133m, decreased by €154m compared with one year earlier and investment income payable to UK investors at €19,923m increased by €1,660m.
When these effects are combined, the trade balance with the UK has increased by €944m and net income outflows have increased by €1,743m, compared with the fourth quarter of 2023. The result is a deficit of €5,389m in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to a deficit of €4,592m in the same period in 2023.

The experimental table on foreign direct investment with UK (See Table 3.2); shows that direct investment in Ireland from the UK has increased by €990m in the fourth quarter of 2024 mainly due to an increase in reinvested earnings. Direct investment abroad from Ireland to the UK has increased by €250m in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Table 3.1 Current Account with the UK

Table 3.1 Current Account with the UK												€ million
			2023	2024	2023				2024
Item			Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4
Current Account
Merchandise¹		Exports	28,254	26,328	7,337	7,660	6,830	6,427	7,086	6,344	6,347	6,551
		Imports	35,875	32,352	9,546	8,973	8,719	8,637	8,076	7,759	8,127	8,390

	of which: Merchanting (net export)	Exports	3,008	3,139	782	713	792	721	782	713	822	822

Services		Exports	46,708	52,011	10,746	11,361	12,013	12,588	11,680	12,269	13,671	14,391
		Imports	29,954	33,824	6,884	7,721	7,465	7,884	8,411	8,287	8,013	9,113
	Transport	Exports	3,788	3,883	595	1,016	1,404	773	676	973	1,407	827
		Imports	1,078	1,029	288	267	247	276	254	245	258	272
	Tourism and Travel²	Exports	1,162	1,176	302	271	360	229	190	317	395	274
		Imports	2,267	2,385	426	615	611	615	549	648	555	633
	Insurance	Exports	2,944	3,023	686	731	687	840	668	773	761	821
		Imports	2,202	2,057	569	576	545	512	483	529	495	550
	Financial services	Exports	6,702	7,852	1,679	1,582	1,721	1,720	2,102	1,876	1,853	2,021
		Imports	8,214	9,978	1,941	2,151	2,044	2,078	2,709	2,460	2,259	2,550
	Royalties/Licences	Exports	579	581	84	123	146	226	124	89	176	192
		Imports	502	322	66	94	..	..	40	100	86	96
	Computer services³	Exports	20,078	23,445	4,687	4,664	5,066	5,661	5,436	5,509	5,810	6,690
		Imports	432	1,180	106	111	..	..	286	299	333	262
	Business services	Exports	6,975	6,959	1,739	1,905	1,584	1,747	1,522	1,546	1,892	1,999
		Imports	14,201	15,575	3,258	3,639	3,366	3,938	3,869	3,745	3,736	4,225
	(of which: Operational leasing)	Exports	952	998	249	242	228	233	246	251	245	256
		Imports	130	133	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
	Other	Exports	4,478	5,093	975	1,068	1,044	1,391	962	1,186	1,378	1,567
		Imports	1,059	1,298	231	268	279	281	222	261	290	525

Merchandise and Services Total		Exports	74,963	78,341	18,084	19,021	18,843	19,015	18,767	18,614	20,018	20,942
		Imports	65,829	66,176	16,430	16,694	16,184	16,521	16,487	16,046	16,140	17,503

Trade balance		Net	9,135	12,164	1,654	2,327	2,659	2,495	2,280	2,567	3,878	3,439

Primary Income		Inflows	42,282	46,377	9,997	10,422	10,509	11,354	11,486	12,251	11,439	11,201
		Outflows	69,889	80,775	15,693	18,086	17,747	18,363	18,329	21,828	20,549	20,069
	(of which : Investment Income)	Inflows	42,014	46,097	9,930	10,355	10,442	11,287	11,419	12,179	11,366	11,133
		Outflows	69,506	80,254	15,598	17,992	17,653	18,263	18,234	21,708	20,389	19,923
	Direct investment income	Inflows	5,240	6,090	1,441	1,081	1,041	1,677	1,930	1,506	1,316	1,338
		Outflows	4,610	5,618	636	792	1,585	1,597	1,049	1,107	1,617	1,845
	Portfolio investment income	Inflows	19,792	22,732	4,742	4,904	4,935	5,211	5,240	6,097	5,746	5,649
		Outflows	58,857	67,086	13,630	15,776	14,608	14,843	15,301	18,643	17,014	16,128
	Other investment income	Inflows	16,980	17,275	3,746	4,370	4,466	4,398	4,249	4,576	4,304	4,146
		Outflows	6,040	7,547	1,332	1,424	1,461	1,823	1,883	1,958	1,757	1,949

Secondary Income		Inflows	2,015	2,326	468	526	537	484	536	551	470	769
		Outflows	2,020	2,166	428	511	520	561	493	512	431	730

Income balance		Net	-27,612	-34,238	-5,656	-7,649	-7,221	-7,086	-6,800	-9,538	-9,071	-8,829

Current Account - Total		Inflows	119,259	127,042	28,549	29,969	29,889	30,852	30,789	31,415	31,926	32,912
		Outflows	137,739	149,118	32,552	35,292	34,451	35,444	35,309	38,386	37,121	38,302

Current Account Balance with UK		Net	-18,480	-22,075	-4,003	-5,323	-4,562	-4,592	-4,521	-6,971	-5,194	-5,389
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.
.. Data suppressed for confidentiality reasons.

Open in Excel: International Accounts Q4 2024 Table 3.1 (XLS 15KB)

Visit Table BPQ35 on PxStat

Visit Table BPQ36 on PxStat

Visit Table BPQ37 on PxStat

Table 3.2 Foreign Direct Investment with the UK

Current account with US shows deficit of €54.1bn in Quarter 4 2024

	Merchandise	Services	Income	Current Account
2016	30.81	-33.719	2.388	-0.521
2017	28.058	-28.794	-6.21	-6.946
2018	35.062	-23.565	-5.146	6.351
2019	44.7	-20.674	-4.03	19.996
2020	51.391	-68.178	-1.492	-18.279
2021	41.36	-97.379	-58.254	-114.273
2022	53.187	-127.117	-90.25	-164.18
2023	49.871	-133.842	-54.877	-138.848
2024	70.194	-163.043	-56.976	-149.825

Current account with US (See Table 3.3)

Merchandise exports were €20,817m in the fourth quarter of 2024, an increase of €9,947m compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.
Merchandise imports were €2,843m in the fourth quarter of 2024, a decrease of €2,292m compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.
Services exports at €16,965m increased by €2,484m compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.
Services imports at €64,588m were up €10,112m over that same period in 2023.
Investment income earned in the US at €21,749m, increased by €2,362m compared with one year earlier while investment income payable to US investors at €46,214m increased by €14,368m.
When these effects are combined, the trade balance with the US has increased by €4,611m and net income outflows have increased by €11,996m, compared with the fourth quarter of 2023. The result is a current account balance deficit of €54,046m in the fourth quarter of 2024, down from a deficit of €46,671m in the fourth quarter of 2023.

These tables showing the Current Account with the US annually and quarterly follow on from our note on Ireland’s Current Account with the US.

Table 3.3 Current Account with US - Annual

Table 3.3 Current Account with US - Annual										€ million
Item		2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Current Account
Merchandise¹	Exports	47,072	43,001	51,906	63,899	66,269	53,052	65,570	62,020	84,887
	Imports	16,262	14,943	16,844	19,199	14,878	11,692	12,383	12,149	14,693
Net Merchandise		30,810	28,058	35,062	44,700	51,391	41,360	53,187	49,871	70,194

of which: International Trade	Exports	31,898	33,284	39,347	47,281	50,661	52,700	63,286	54,403	73,007
	Imports	12,212	14,398	15,334	14,412	11,475	14,897	18,831	20,889	19,304
of which: Goods for Processing	Exports	14,021	11,489	11,140	14,112	9,669	5,878	789	2,925	3,189
	Imports	1,055	518	1,538	4,697	-1,951	-4,355	-6,608	-9,028	-4,924

Services	Exports	17,997	19,851	26,420	37,578	42,795	47,094	47,558	52,755	59,646
	Imports	51,716	48,645	49,985	58,252	110,973	144,473	174,675	186,597	222,689
Net Services		-33,719	-28,794	-23,565	-20,674	-68,178	-97,379	-127,117	-133,842	-163,043


Merchandise and Services Total	Exports	65,069	62,852	78,326	101,477	109,064	100,146	113,128	114,775	144,533
	Imports	67,978	63,588	66,829	77,451	125,851	156,165	187,058	198,746	237,382

Trade balance	Net	-2,909	-736	11,497	24,026	-16,787	-56,019	-73,930	-83,971	-92,849

Primary Income	Inflows	19,249	21,794	23,879	29,838	27,737	36,295	45,946	74,116	90,278
	Outflows	16,934	28,138	29,154	34,017	29,371	94,758	136,401	129,163	147,484
Net Primary Income		2,315	-6,344	-5,275	-4,179	-1,634	-58,463	-90,455	-55,047	-57,206

of which: Investment Income	Inflows	19,193	21,736	23,820	29,781	27,710	36,279	45,901	74,071	90,239
	Outflows	16,917	28,117	29,140	34,006	29,360	94,747	136,385	129,144	147,462
Direct investment income	Inflows	3,295	2,270	909	2,078	4,194	6,392	6,493	10,244	13,329
	Outflows	3,511	10,803	11,517	11,784	11,075	75,711	111,640	92,151	103,237
Portfolio investment income	Inflows	13,027	16,398	18,760	21,685	20,002	25,030	31,782	41,125	50,523
	Outflows	10,465	13,675	14,349	17,427	14,895	14,287	19,381	28,272	28,304
Other investment income	Inflows	2,871	3,068	4,151	6,018	3,514	4,857	7,626	22,702	26,387
	Outflows	2,941	3,639	3,274	4,795	3,390	4,749	5,364	8,721	15,921

Secondary Income	Inflows	464	582	526	565	687	347	1,078	980	889
	Outflows	391	448	397	416	545	138	873	810	659

Income balance	Net	2,388	-6,210	-5,146	-4,030	-1,492	-58,254	-90,250	-54,877	-56,976

Current Account - Total	Inflows	84,782	85,228	102,731	131,880	137,488	136,788	160,152	189,871	235,700
	Outflows	85,303	92,174	96,380	111,884	155,767	251,061	324,332	328,719	385,525

Current Account Balance with US	Net	-521	-6,946	6,351	19,996	-18,279	-114,273	-164,180	-138,848	-149,825
¹Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.

Open in Excel: International Accounts Q4 2024 Table 3.3 (XLS 12KB)

Table 3.4 Current Account with US - Quarterly

Table 3.4 Current Account with US - Quarterly											€ million
		2023	2024	2023				2024
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4
Current Account
Merchandise¹	Exports	62,020	84,887	16,302	17,433	17,415	10,870	17,645	21,925	24,500	20,817
	Imports	12,148	14,692	3,002	1,646	2,365	5,135	2,676	4,727	4,446	2,843
Net Merchandise		49,872	70,195	13,300	15,787	15,050	5,735	14,969	17,198	20,054	17,974

of which: International Trade	Exports	54,403	73,008	13,645	13,958	13,431	13,369	15,962	18,015	18,823	20,208
	Imports	20,889	19,303	4,569	4,731	4,975	6,614	4,076	5,283	5,681	4,263
of which: Goods for Processing	Exports	2,925	3,189	106	1,336	970	513	383	1,561	1,756	-511
	Imports	-9,028	-4,923	-1,629	-3,155	-2,722	-1,522	-1,466	-660	-1,345	-1,452

Services	Exports	52,756	59,645	12,037	12,972	13,266	14,481	14,814	13,927	13,939	16,965
	Imports	186,597	222,688	41,534	42,323	48,264	54,476	49,567	53,903	54,630	64,588
Net Services		-133,841	-163,043	-29,497	-29,351	-34,998	-39,995	-34,753	-39,976	-40,691	-47,623


Merchandise and Services Total	Exports	114,776	144,532	28,339	30,405	30,681	25,351	32,459	35,852	38,439	37,782
	Imports	198,745	237,380	44,536	43,969	50,629	59,611	52,243	58,630	59,076	67,431

Trade balance	Net	-83,969	-92,848	-16,197	-13,564	-19,948	-34,260	-19,784	-22,778	-20,637	-29,649

Primary Income	Inflows	74,116	90,278	15,433	19,960	19,324	19,399	20,199	26,399	21,927	21,753
	Outflows	129,163	147,484	37,780	30,990	28,542	31,851	37,112	31,630	32,522	46,220
Net Primary Income		-55,047	-57,206	-22,347	-11,030	-9,218	-12,452	-16,913	-5,231	-10,595	-24,467

of which: Investment Income	Inflows	74,070	90,241	15,422	19,949	19,312	19,387	20,189	26,388	21,915	21,749
	Outflows	129,144	147,461	37,775	30,987	28,536	31,846	37,108	31,623	32,516	46,214
Direct investment income	Inflows	10,243	13,330	1,023	3,398	2,615	3,207	3,283	3,397	3,215	3,435
	Outflows	92,151	103,236	29,907	21,220	18,719	22,305	27,039	18,347	22,059	35,791
Portfolio investment income	Inflows	41,125	50,524	9,069	11,069	10,650	10,337	11,073	14,525	12,612	12,314
	Outflows	28,273	28,303	5,774	7,680	7,296	7,523	7,852	8,488	5,968	5,995
Other investment income	Inflows	22,702	26,387	5,330	5,482	6,047	5,843	5,833	8,466	6,088	6,000
	Outflows	8,720	15,922	2,094	2,087	2,521	2,018	2,217	4,788	4,489	4,428

Secondary Income	Inflows	981	890	234	216	280	251	249	325	215	101
	Outflows	811	659	185	177	239	210	198	265	155	41

Income balance	Net	-54,877	-56,975	-22,298	-10,991	-9,177	-12,411	-16,862	-5,171	-10,535	-24,407

Current Account - Total	Inflows	189,873	235,700	44,006	50,581	50,285	45,001	52,907	62,576	60,581	59,636
	Outflows	328,719	385,523	82,501	75,136	79,410	91,672	89,553	90,525	91,753	113,692

Current Account Balance with US	Net	-138,846	-149,823	-38,495	-24,555	-29,125	-46,671	-36,646	-27,949	-31,172	-54,056
¹Adjusted for balance of payments purposes.

Open in Excel: International Accounts Q4 2024 Table 3.4 (XLS 14KB)

Next chapter: Foreign Direct Investment

Why you can Trust the CSO

Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.

go to trust & transparency

Table 3.2 Foreign Direct investment with the UK¹											€ million
		2023	2024	2023				2024
Item		Year		Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4

Direct Investment	Abroad	6,460	817	2,481	2,996	-432	1,415	-672	1,385	-146	250
	In Ireland	1,833	2,977	1,901	395	200	-663	-417	430	1,974	990

Equity	Abroad	3,811	-1,294	1,184	2,014	659	-46	-780	77	..	..
	In Ireland	-30	638	121	-628	-173	650	-28	234	-205	637
Reinvested Earnings	Abroad	2,569	3,241	874	581	-218	1,332	1,656	1,170	..	..
	In Ireland	3,291	3,996	560	511	722	1,498	537	587	1,389	1,483
Other Capital	Abroad	80	-1,130	423	401	-873	129	-1,548	138	443	-163
	In Ireland	-1,428	-1,655	1,220	513	-350	-2,811	-925	-391	790	-1,129
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'.
.. Data suppressed for confidentiality reasons.

International Accounts Q4 2024

Accounts with the UK and US

Accounts with the UK and the US

Current Account Balances with UK and US both show deficits for Quarter 4 2024

Current account with UK shows a deficit of €5bn in Quarter 4 2024

Current account with UK (See Table 3.1)

Current account with US shows deficit of €54.1bn in Quarter 4 2024

Current account with US (See Table 3.3)

Contents

Related

Why you can Trust the CSO

Contact:

Links:

Careers

Follow: