The CSO have published the Q1 2013 Quarterly National Accounts. GDP has contracted for three quarters in succession. A decline in the net outflow of factor income led to a quarterly rise in GNP. The Balance of Payments shows that there was a drop in the outflow of portfolio investment income on equity (though the impact this has on the seasonally adjusted national income figures is unclear).
Unsurprisingly, Consumption Expenditure fell in the quarter reflecting the pattern that has been obvious in recent Retail Sales Index releases. The Investment figures are low and volatile and heavily influenced by the timing of purchases by aircraft leasing companies based here. In real terms, Investment fell over 7% in the quarter. Net expenditure by Government on goods and services was largely unchanged in the quarter. All measures of domestic demand fell in the quarter.
In seasonally adjusted terms, real exports fell 3% in the quarter with a 1% drop in real imports. The non-seasonally adjusted data in Annex 1 indicates a much greater drop in service exports compared to goods exports.
The National Income and Expenditure Accounts for 2012 have also been released. The 2012 GDP growth figure has been revised down from +0.9% to +0.2%. The GNP growth figure has been revised from +3.4% to +1.8%.
The Q1 2013 International Investment Position and External Debt figures have also been published.