This release has been compiled during the COVID-19 crisis. The results contained in this release reflect some of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 situation. For further information see our Information Note.
The economy as a whole grew in the first quarter of 2022, driven by non-financial corporations' higher gross value added. GDP was €117bn, 16% higher than 2021-Q1. Gross National Income (GNI, B.5g) was €82bn, up 14%. More information is contained in the Quarterly National Accounts.
Ireland has a positive current account (CA) balance in the quarter (the negative of B.12 of S.2). This meant that Ireland (including, of course, the foreign-owned corporations operating here) generated a surplus to invest in the rest of the world. The current account balance can also be seen as what is left of gross saving (B.8g) after the country has invested in fixed capital (P.5): in recent quarters we have invested wealth here and we have invested in the rest of the world also.
Gross Saving - Investment = Current Account Balance.
Gross Saving less investment can be estimated for each sector, showing the contribution of corporations, government and household to the change in our account with the rest of the world. Figure 3.1 illustrates the trends in, and relationships between the current account balance, gross saving and investment. All sectors were saving more than they were investing in the quarter. In particular, households and non-financial corporations had the largest contributions to the current account balance. As we saw, households have had high levels of saving throughout the pandemic, while their investment in capital assets such as new homes has not kept pace with this growth.
| S11 | S12 | S13 | S1M | CA Balance | |
| 2019Q1 | 8.9189020235 | 0.8617066291 | -1.826744766 | 1.685035821 | 9.9236121791 |
| 2019Q2 | -36.40557893 | -1.043563983 | 1.0330612375 | 2.9685002125 | -33.49071555 |
| 2019Q3 | 10.755716734 | 1.430595434 | -1.194035903 | 2.0628387497 | 11.68296727 |
| 2019Q4 | -62.24734586 | 0.3653672192 | 3.9647269225 | -0.096809557 | -58.74102582 |
| 2020Q1 | -49.6500591 | 0.8554820721 | -3.625906276 | 6.0011457975 | -47.49619286 |
| 2020Q2 | 4.0834978183 | 0.353917731 | -6.49681763 | 11.113565517 | 11.239156422 |
| 2020Q3 | 10.852314541 | 0.3586185472 | -6.479028967 | 5.8113525427 | 9.9865852864 |
| 2020Q4 | -3.048277593 | -0.277167872 | -1.673074081 | 3.9596975634 | 0.7596494133 |
| 2021Q1 | 13.237157467 | 0.5777937251 | -6.073021309 | 9.581632733 | 17.05372601 |
| 2021Q2 | 9.2228005276 | -1.283963806 | -2.05906473 | 7.6270736202 | 16.35933 |
| 2021Q3 | 20.848713198 | -0.154670888 | -2.575257641 | 6.3340235492 | 22.66628 |
| 2021Q4 | -0.965577332 | 0.0703761007 | 4.3046971008 | 2.0459892301 | 4.58001 |
| 2022Q1 | 7.3001713878 | 0.6634061327 | 0.4523444386 | 5.2411053521 | 17.04292 |
Rest of the World Sector (S.2)
The growth in Ireland's GDP has been driven by higher net exports, or, from the point of view of the rest of the world, a more negative balance of goods and services with Ireland. As our globalised economy grew in the first quarter of this year, so both imports and exports have increased. For services, imports and exports grew by the same amount (€15bn) compared to the first quarter of last year. For goods, exports grew by €11bn, while imports were up just €5bn. This brought the balance of goods and services for the rest of the world up almost €6bn to €53bn. Because most of these net exports were by foreign-owned corporations, the extra profit they generated flowed out to their owners abroad. Net outflows of investment income (D.4) also rose by nearly €6bn. This left the current external balance (the current account balance) largely unchanged compared to Q1-2021.
Further details on transactions with the rest of the world are provided by institutional sector in the International Accounts, which include the financial account as well.
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