Media ININ Economy We Trust
Media IN/Abudhabi/ 12-05-2019
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) indicate that the Irish economy performed strongly last year. The Irish economy, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), grew by 6.7% in volume terms up to €312.5 billion, while real Gross National Product (GNP), which takes account of income inflows to, and outflows from, Ireland, grew by 5.9% upto €245.7 billion.
This makes Ireland the fastest growing economy in the EU-28.This growth was broad-based, as it was driven by
- both an increase in net exports (+13.8%)
- growth in the domestic economy as measured by the annual change was +4.7%)
- Total Domestic Demand (the sum of personal consumption increased up to +3%),
- government consumption increased up to +6.4%),
- Investment grew by +9.8%) and inventories.
- The annual increase in capital formation was driven by a:n9% increase in Building and Construction (+25.9% for new dwellings,
- highlighting the housing supply response);n7% growth in Machinery and Equipment, which was strongly affected by aircraft leasing. Removing the influence of aircraft leasing
- Machinery and Equipment grew by 5.3% in 2018; andn9% reduction in investment in Intangibles. On a sectoral basis,
- Information and Communication (+30.7% – largely impacted by an increase in exports and royalty payments from abroad)
- Construction (+15.4%) are the sectors that experienced the largest annual increase, while Gross Value Added (GVA) in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing decreased by 12.9%. The value of Information and Communication for the Irish economy has grown in significance in recent years, accounting for 12.3% of total GVA and an employment share of 5.2% in 2018. This highlights the concentration of Ireland’s production base in a small number of highly-productive sectors and companies.
Ireland is expected to experience robust economic growth in the short-term with projected real GDP growth averaging 4.1% in 2019 and 3.5% in 2020
