For Quarter 1 2023, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) adjusted for inflation and seasonal factors contracted by 2.8% compared to the last quarter of 2022, as published in the Quarterly National Accounts.
Institutional Sector Accounts for the total economy are presented in current prices, not adjusted for inflation. The unadjusted GDP was €127bn in the first quarter of the year. A year-on-year comparison of GDP shows an increase of 7% from €119bn in the first quarter of 2022. After outflows to foreign investors, Gross National Income (GNI, B.5g) was €87bn, up €4bn (5%).
The consumption of goods and services by households and government (P.3) was €45bn, an increase of €4bn (9%) compared to the first quarter of 2022; over the same period the Consumer Price Index increased 8%. Capital investment (P.5) was €26bn, 9% higher than the equivalent period last year. After all transactions are included, Ireland was a net lender (B.9) of €13bn in the quarter, compared to €17bn in the first quarter of 2022.
Ireland exported €172.2bn worth of goods and services in the first quarter of 2023, and imported €117.0bn. This left the country with a trade surplus (the negative of B.11 in Table 3.2 below, which is presented from the point of view of the Rest of the World) of just under €55.2bn. This surplus was €1.9bn greater that in the equivalent quarter of 2022 when it was slightly over €53.2bn. The higher surplus was due to exports increasing more than imports.
Because most of these net exports were by foreign-owned corporations, the extra profit they generated from their trade in goods and services flowed out to their owners abroad. Net outflows of investment income (D.4) were €40.6bn, €4.4bn greater than the equivalent quarter in 2022. With other changes in current transactions, this left the current account balance (the negative of the current external balance, B.12 in the table) at €13.6bn for the Rest of the World, a change of €2.5bn from €16.9bn in the last quarter of 2022.
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.
Ireland has a positive current account (CA) balance in the quarter (this is the equal and opposite of B.12 of S.2 shown in Table 3.2). The contributions of each sector can be seen in Figure 3.1 (see grey box for explanation). Households continued their high level of saving, while their investment in capital assets such as new homes has not kept pace with this growth. Government saving was also greater than its capital investment in the quarter. The Non-Financial corporations had the biggest contribution to the current account balance as their saving exceeded their capital investment by €8bn. However, as noted in the previous chapter, this does not take into account Consumption of Fixed Capital (CFC), which is a significant part of the gross saving (B.8g) of these corporations.
The current account (CA) balance shows a country's transactions with the Rest of the World. It is a key economic indicator. It is given in the International Accounts and in these Sector Accounts. Here, it is shown as the Rest of the World's balance with Ireland (B.12), so a negative B.12 for the Rest of the World is a positive current account balance for this country. In the case of Ireland's economy, the two biggest components are net exports (P.6-P.7) and net investment income (D.4). A positive CA balance means that Ireland (including, of course, the foreign-owned corporations operating here) exports more than it imports and/or receives more return on investment abroad than it pays out on foreign-owned assets here. In general, a CA balance that is greater than zero is welcome, as it generates a surplus to invest in the Rest of the World.
The current account balance can be seen as what is left of gross saving (B.8g) after the country has invested in fixed capital (P.5), hence the equation:
Gross Saving - Investment = Current Account Balance.
Gross Saving minus Investment can be estimated for each sector, indicating the contribution of corporations, government and household to the change in our account with the Rest of the World. Since each sector has transactions with other sectors here in Ireland, as well as with the Rest of the World, the Saving less Investment for each sector is not equal to that sector's transactions with the Rest of the World. However, for the economy as a whole, the equation gives a good indicator of how the CA balance is being generated.
| S11 | S12 | S13 | S1M | CA Balance | |
| 2019Q1 | 9.2015306809 | 1.0867587552 | -1.778146413 | 1.5384427174 | 9.9236121791 |
| 2019Q2 | -37.14551317 | -0.625643498 | 1.0861843094 | 2.9110870695 | -33.49071568 |
| 2019Q3 | 7.9019223889 | 1.5752356133 | -1.137347758 | 2.0319562458 | 11.682971905 |
| 2019Q4 | -60.17712195 | 0.825962817 | 4.0248677712 | -0.185277847 | -58.74102782 |
| 2020Q1 | -46.86169381 | 0.4308063944 | -3.435635325 | 5.6284988637 | -46.51954 |
| 2020Q2 | 7.6657015528 | -0.006539106 | -6.188604858 | 10.646811273 | 12.40725 |
| 2020Q3 | 10.894969621 | -0.134568744 | -6.61433401 | 5.3130030609 | 11.41376 |
| 2020Q4 | -1.06935728 | -0.800463025 | -1.866616774 | 3.3101328262 | -1.80623 |
| 2021Q1 | 14.725161231 | 1.0135873595 | -6.063038543 | 8.3083350119 | 16.96206 |
| 2021Q2 | 10.812662843 | -1.019716556 | -2.311765295 | 6.4031229726 | 16.45554 |
| 2021Q3 | 17.385301716 | 0.5057227445 | -2.638372056 | 5.0503191188 | 22.3028 |
| 2021Q4 | 0.2050626697 | 0.0515139486 | 4.6171867376 | 0.5356523411 | 3.81044 |
| 2022Q1 | 12.978306323 | 0.3381152846 | -0.060722983 | 3.7623141226 | 16.0417 |
| 2022Q2 | 5.2326253812 | -0.869564831 | 1.5758163547 | 4.2591232326 | 13.80448 |
| 2022Q3 | 8.5365575468 | -0.102753526 | 2.1547429691 | 2.6248223895 | 9.59794 |
| 2022Q4 | 17.053437134 | -1.327368986 | 5.1862008376 | -1.926449689 | 15.14395 |
| 2023Q1 | 8.3041601054 | -1.081903059 | 2.1503771861 | 2.8243174661 | 13.5716 |
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