Irish Current Account Surplus Narrows

Ireland's current account surplus reached €17.44 billion in the first quarter of 2026, higher than €5.8 billion a year earlier, as decreases in merchandise exports were offset by lower outflows of investment income. It is equivalent to 12.5% of the GDP, much higher than 3.5% in Q1 2025. Merchandise exports were €77,050 million, a decrease of €36,029 million compared with the first quarter of 2025. Merchandise imports were €46,448 million, an increase of €7,588 million. Service exports rose by €11,528 million mainly due to rising computer services exports. Service imports at €116,861 million were up €1,223 million mainly due to royalty imports. Meanwhile, investment income earned abroad at €78,201 million increased by €6,911 million while investment income payable to foreign investors decreased by €38,559 million to €99,735 million.

Ireland’s current account surplus narrowed to €12.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, from €18.2 billion in the same period of the previous year. This marked the smallest current account surplus since the first quarter of 2025, as the goods account surplus fell to €42.2 billion from €55 billion in Q4 2024. In contrast, the services account surplus rose to €8.1 billion from €6.9 billion. Moreover, the primary income deficit narrowed to €36.4 billion from €42.5 billion, and the secondary income shortfall fell slightly to €1.1 billion from €1.2 billion.

Ireland's current account narrowed to €13.9 billion in the third quarter of 2025 from €19.7 in the corresponding period of the previous year. The primary income deficit widened to €46.4 billion from the €33.6 billion gap in the previous year, signaling the large group of multinational corporation headquartered in Ireland expatriated its profits to their home nations, making up most of the outflows from Ireland's current account. In the meantime, the merchandise surplus widened to €55.4 billion from €42.9 billion.