This chapter contains information on Ireland's transactions and positions with the rest of the world. The results shown are consistent with the new methodological standards implemented in June 2014, namely the IMF's Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, sixth edition (BPM6). The Balance of International Payments data (tables 18.1, 18.2 and 18.3) show transactions between residents of Ireland and non-residents. Table 18.4 shows the end of year stocks (or levels) of Ireland's financial assets and liabilities, the International Investment Position. The data in table 18.5 shows the outstanding amount of credit granted by credit institutions resident in Ireland to Irish private sector residents, although loans granted by non-resident credit institutions to Irish residents are not included. Table 18.6 combines data from the financial and non-financial sector accounts and shows the trend in saving and investment for households.
| Table 18.1 Balance of International Payments – Current and Capital Accounts | |||||
| €million | |||||
| Item | 2018 | 2019 | |||
| Exports | Imports | Exports | Imports | ||
| Current Account | |||||
| Merchandise | 211,444 | 102,312 | 227,497 | 108,372 | |
| of which: Merchanting (net export) | 10,596 | - | 13,477 | - | |
| Services | 188,454 | 204,799 | 221,370 | 296,702 | |
| Repairs and processing | 1,899 | 5,428 | 2,477 | 6,603 | |
| Transport | 7,746 | 3,065 | 8,041 | 3,281 | |
| Tourism and travel | 5,760 | 6,399 | 5,739 | 7,288 | |
| Insurance | 9,535 | 7,983 | 9,905 | 8,141 | |
| Financial services | 15,354 | 13,924 | 16,867 | 15,501 | |
| Royalties/Licences | 12,150 | 72,494 | 10,614 | 84,260 | |
| Communications | 411 | 571 | 336 | 456 | |
| Computer services | 93,075 | 5,344 | 117,099 | 4,540 | |
| Business services | 36,638 | 88,826 | 43,792 | 165,812 | |
| Research and development | 3,130 | 37,443 | 5,041 | 105,081 | |
| Operational leasing | 15,405 | 1,034 | 16,400 | 967 | |
| Misc. business services | 18,103 | 50,349 | 22,351 | 59,764 | |
| Other services n.e.s. | 5,886 | 762 | 6,501 | 819 | |
| Primary Income | 87,390 | 156,841 | 108,801 | 189,428 | |
| Compensation of employees | 528 | 614 | 524 | 674 | |
| Investment Income | 85,297 | 155,874 | 106,686 | 188,260 | |
| Direct investment income | 21,454 | 79,569 | 20,710 | 91,785 | |
| Income on equity | 17,057 | 70,664 | 17,032 | 82,325 | |
| Dividends & distributed branch profits | 2,384 | 18,962 | 1,289 | 19,481 | |
| Reinvested earnings | 14,673 | 51,703 | 15,742 | 62,845 | |
| Income on debt | 4,396 | 8,904 | 3,678 | 9,460 | |
| Portfolio investment income | 51,689 | 64,483 | 65,041 | 80,694 | |
| Income on equity | 16,737 | 55,946 | 21,116 | 63,532 | |
| Income on debt | 34,952 | 8,538 | 43,926 | 17,162 | |
| Other investment income | 12,154 | 11,821 | 20,935 | 15,782 | |
| Other primary income | 1,566 | 353 | 1,588 | 493 | |
| Secondary Income | 5,158 | 8,878 | 5,003 | 8,573 | |
| Current Account - Total | 492,445 | 472,829 | 562,670 | 603,074 | |
| Current Account Balance | 19,617 | -40,404 | |||
| Capital Account Balance | -52,019 | -35,139 | |||
| Memorandum Item: Government income | 102 | 3,711 | 101 | 3,358 | |
| Source: CSO | |||||
Table 18.1 shows the current and capital accounts from the balance of payments data in the International Accounts publication. The current account is subdivided into three main sections; merchandise, services and income.
In 2019 the current account, a measure of Ireland’s economic flows with the rest of the world, had a deficit of €40.4bn. The merchandise surplus of €119.1bn was offset by profit and interest outflows of €84.2bn and a services deficit of €75.3bn.
The largest categories of services exports were computer services (€117.1bn) and business services (€43.8bn), while the largest categories of service imports were business services (€165.8bn) and royalties (€105.1bn).
Interactive table: StatBank BPA15
Link to publication: International Accounts
Table 18.2 shows the exports of merchandise and services by partner country in 2019.
In 2019, total exports of merchandise and services amounted to €448.9bn. The top three countries accounted for 42.2% of exports. The largest trading partner for exports was United States (€98.3bn) followed by United Kingdom with exports of €56.2bn and Germany €34.9bn.
Interactive table: StatBank BPA19
Link to publication: International Accounts
Table 18.3 shows the imports of merchandise and services by partner country in 2019.
In 2019, total imports of merchandise and services amounted to €405.1bn. The top three countries accounted for 45.2% of imports. The largest trading partner for imports was United States (€71.6bn); imports from Bermuda were €65.1bn and from the United Kingdom were €46.6bn.
Interactive table: StatBank BPA19
Link to publication: International Accounts
| Table 18.4 International Investment Position - detailed data | ||||||
| €million | ||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| Foreign assets | ||||||
| Direct Investment Abroad | 509,706 | 835,530 | 812,639 | 822,832 | 845,336 | 966,641 |
| Equity capital and reinvested earnings | 437,273 | 749,944 | 745,116 | 750,436 | 747,269 | 963,295 |
| Other capital | 72,432 | 85,586 | 67,523 | 72,396 | 98,067 | 3,346 |
| Portfolio Investment | 2,011,569 | 2,246,763 | 2,442,775 | 2,688,561 | 2,744,301 | 3,400,723 |
| Equity | 772,568 | 879,460 | 952,792 | 1,109,071 | 1,094,618 | 1,392,138 |
| Debt instruments | 1,239,000 | 1,367,303 | 1,489,983 | 1,579,490 | 1,649,683 | 2,008,585 |
| Bonds and notes | 840,176 | 934,516 | 1,049,890 | 1,129,869 | 1,245,812 | 1,552,631 |
| Money market instruments | 398,824 | 432,787 | 440,092 | 449,620 | 403,871 | 455,954 |
| Other Investment | 1,183,108 | 1,283,707 | 1,234,539 | 1,218,254 | 1,272,157 | 1,478,984 |
| Loans, currency and deposits | 757,735 | 862,959 | 844,200 | 890,703 | 956,078 | 1,086,908 |
| Trade Credits | 46,422 | 49,921 | 51,647 | 49,080 | 50,587 | 72,592 |
| Other assets | 378,951 | 370,827 | 338,692 | 278,472 | 265,491 | 319,485 |
| Reserve assets | 1,426 | 2,013 | 3,384 | 3,672 | 4,551 | 5,084 |
| Monetary gold | 180 | 178 | 201 | 198 | 205 | 248 |
| Special drawing rights | 776 | 829 | 817 | 776 | 797 | 824 |
| Reserve Position in the IMF | 308 | 329 | 1,029 | 959 | 982 | 996 |
| Foreign Exchange | 3 | 3 | 379 | 597 | 883 | 906 |
| Other | 159 | 674 | 958 | 1,142 | 1,684 | 2,110 |
| Total Foreign Assets | 3,705,808 | 4,368,013 | 4,493,337 | 4,733,319 | 4,866,344 | 5,851,432 |
| Foreign liabilities | ||||||
| Direct Investment in Ireland | 354,045 | 817,580 | 797,521 | 882,171 | 915,849 | 1,025,789 |
| Equity capital and reinvested earnings | 379,597 | 598,350 | 706,277 | 791,120 | 810,234 | 893,833 |
| Other capital | -25,552 | 219,230 | 91,244 | 91,051 | 105,615 | 131,956 |
| Portfolio Investment | 2,364,508 | 2,798,428 | 2,909,500 | 3,142,512 | 3,172,291 | 3,951,300 |
| Equity | 1,937,051 | 2,313,180 | 2,450,073 | 2,705,168 | 2,727,364 | 3,396,930 |
| Debt instruments | 427,457 | 485,248 | 459,428 | 437,344 | 444,927 | 554,369 |
| Bonds and notes | 413,568 | 466,421 | 445,071 | 419,860 | 433,919 | 539,836 |
| Money market instruments | 13,889 | 18,827 | 14,357 | 17,484 | 11,008 | 14,534 |
| Other Investment | 1,307,346 | 1,272,675 | 1,251,886 | 1,204,710 | 1,368,991 | 1,493,126 |
| Loans, currency and deposits | 713,243 | 692,977 | 713,055 | 719,827 | 827,782 | 892,217 |
| Trade Credits | 19,849 | 30,497 | 41,013 | 46,783 | 42,874 | 42,979 |
| Other liabilities | 574,254 | 549,201 | 497,819 | 438,099 | 498,335 | 557,930 |
| Total Foreign Liabilities | 4,025,899 | 4,888,683 | 4,958,908 | 5,229,393 | 5,457,131 | 6,470,214 |
| Source: CSO | ||||||
Table 18.4 shows the International Investment Position.
At the end of 2019 Ireland’s stock of financial assets amounted to €5,851.4bn. The corresponding stock of financial liabilities was €6,470.2bn. This resulted in a net foreign liability of €618.8bn.
Interactive table: Statbank BPQ26
Link to publication: International Accounts
| Table 18.5 Irish Private Sector Credit and Deposits, end of year 2012-2019 | ||||||||
| €million | ||||||||
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| Credit advanced to Irish private sector | 302,164 | 278,266 | 226,881 | 199,877 | 185,771 | 179,144 | 173,866 | 166,016 |
| 1. Households | 111,076 | 107,660 | 96,873 | 91,963 | 88,169 | 89,909 | 91,399 | 92,037 |
| 1.1 Loans for house purchase | 84,973 | 83,322 | 78,292 | 77,029 | 73,469 | 74,799 | 76,126 | 76,493 |
| 1.2 Consumer credit | 14,206 | 12,933 | 11,524 | 11,234 | 12,093 | 12,896 | 13,321 | 13,856 |
| 1.3 Other loans | 11,897 | 11,405 | 7,057 | 3,700 | 2,607 | 2,214 | 1,952 | 1,693 |
| 2. Non-financial corporations | 84,330 | 79,648 | 60,328 | 47,099 | 42,587 | 41,526 | 41,709 | 39,104 |
| 2.1 Loans | 84,204 | 79,526 | 60,071 | 46,819 | 42,346 | 41,255 | 40,885 | 38,570 |
| 2.2 Securities | 126 | 122 | 257 | 280 | 241 | 271 | 824 | 533 |
| 3. Insurance corporations and pension funds/other financial intermediaries | 106,758 | 90,958 | 69,514 | 60,815 | 55,015 | 47,709 | 40,758 | 34,875 |
| 3.1 Loans | 38,907 | 30,738 | 21,179 | 18,506 | 17,002 | 17,242 | 17,764 | 15,843 |
| 3.2 Securities | 67,851 | 60,220 | 48,335 | 42,309 | 38,013 | 30,466 | 22,994 | 19,032 |
| Deposits of Irish private sector | 166,475 | 180,358 | 165,821 | 176,070 | 180,116 | 187,205 | 193,809 | 218,699 |
| 4. Households | 92,391 | 91,182 | 91,460 | 94,741 | 97,128 | 99,495 | 104,047 | 110,465 |
| 5. Non-financial corporations | 30,888 | 33,933 | 39,744 | 42,652 | 45,579 | 50,533 | 52,362 | 61,655 |
| 6. Insurance corporations and pension funds/Other financial intermediaries | 43,195 | 55,243 | 34,616 | 38,678 | 37,408 | 37,178 | 37,400 | 46,579 |
| Source: Central Bank of Ireland | ||||||||
Table 18.5 shows the outstanding amount of credit extended by credit institutions resident in Ireland to Irish private sector residents. It is important to note that the loans granted by non-resident credit institutions to Irish residents are not included in these tables. Hence, if a bank changes its jurisdiction this will affect the amounts shown in this table.
After a continuing decline from 2012 to 2016, the amount owed by households to Irish banks showed slight increases in subsequent years, standing at €92.0bn at the end of 2019. There is a persisting trend in recent years where households’ credit liabilities have fallen in cumulative terms by €19.0bn since 2012. Loans for house purchase increased by 0.5% in 2019 over the previous year, while deposits held by households rose by 6.2% from 2018 to 2019.
| GFCF | Net Capital Transfers | Deposits | Loans | Insurance, Pensions and Shares | Gross Savings | |
| 2008 | 17.1574890773054 | -0.116422806336915 | 3.74163719423445 | -7.54304539460321 | 0.0200051503926479 | 10.3947292331644 |
| 2009 | 8.80751041312327 | -0.282766655708133 | 5.2614202250906 | 2.01366476523815 | 0.826823896597376 | 13.2773468986283 |
| 2010 | 5.67999898880154 | -0.219912940433904 | 0.548180396929281 | 9.8183523861205 | -1.24519592004236 | 11.1160188164767 |
| 2011 | 4.39772366943337 | -0.133482073898488 | -1.72683745760774 | 8.85124592294578 | 1.35423443756402 | 7.36567646584618 |
| 2012 | 3.99572411463802 | -0.0676519031700062 | 0.989173525613431 | 7.31716889792146 | -0.594098748176568 | 9.83156206022613 |
| 2013 | 4.09397385836725 | -0.138914667073124 | 0.203158550900019 | 4.562347692615 | 1.14714457628105 | 8.34856086322898 |
| 2014 | 3.96655051565048 | -0.0832828380690253 | 2.59830788313175 | 5.57979736945661 | 0.10317420901148 | 7.31331911632014 |
| 2015 | 4.55004410884332 | -0.111959981305591 | 3.94392343711328 | 4.51969193038585 | 0.631076025105539 | 8.11456532627041 |
| 2016 | 5.41934944716703 | -0.270067978325 | 3.21561627922974 | 2.72282680172762 | 1.01426034913194 | 7.98566987966199 |
| 2017 | 5.99363290161704 | -0.326603278 | 4.06315482263201 | 0.941930334344126 | 3.07771674729291 | 11.1555873054274 |
| 2018 | 7.53127288586698 | -0.453670867 | 5.052350949968 | 1.13435900908064 | 1.06461982304372 | 11.4795414006745 |
Interactive link: StatBank ISQ03
Link to publication: Institutional Sector Accounts Non-Financial & Financial
Household1 saving peaked at €13.3bn in 2009 and amounted to €11.5bn in 2018. How households have been using their savings is illustrated in Figure 18.5. The line graph is the trend in actual gross household saving while the bar chart illustrates transactions in investment and borrowing by households.
During the entire period there is a clear link between transactions in loans and transactions in gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) of households. The transactions in loans relate predominantly to borrowing to fund investment in property while the capital formation relates to the property investments themselves.
Since 2009 households have not been borrowing, in net terms. At the same time investment in property has fallen to levels that can be financed by the saving of the sector without having recourse to borrowing. In fact the gross capital formation of households fell from a high of €25.8bn in 2006 to €4bn in 2012, ultimately rising to €7.5bn in 2018 (for full time series see the related Statbank ISQ03). Repayment of loans amounting to €1.1bn, also known as deleveraging, continued to be a major use of household saving in 2018. The use of household saving to fund transactions in investment assets such as deposits and insurance and pensions is also apparent in the graph.
1Data refers to Households and non-profit institutions serving households (S.14 + S.15 ESA2010 sector categories).
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