Economy of Ireland Currency Euro (EUR, €)Calendar year Trade organisations
EU , WTO and OECD Country group
Population 5,149,139 (2022 census )[ 3] GDP GDP rank GDP growth
12.0% (2022)[ 5]
5.6% (2023f) [ 5]
4.0% (2024f) [ 5]
GDP per capita
$101,509 (nominal; 2023)[ 4]
$124,596 (PPP; 2023)[ 4]
GDP per capita rank
GDP by sector
7.81% (2022)[ 7]
2.36% (2021)[ 7]
-0.33% (2020)[ 7]
6.7% (consistent poverty in 2017) Poverty line in 2022: €13,400/year[ 8] [ 9]
21.1% at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE, 2018)[ 10]
28.9 low (2018, Eurostat )[ 11] 77 out of 100 points (2023)[ 14] (11th )Labour force
2,608,500 (2023 Q1)[ 15]
79.1% employment rate (2023)[ 16]
Labour force by occupation
Unemployment
4.2% (July 2022)[ 17]
10.4% youth unemployment (15 to 24 year-olds; October 2021)[ 18]
Average gross salary
€4,002 monthly (2023-Q1)€3,086 monthly (2023-Q1)Main industries
Exports
Goods - €208.208 billion (2022)[ 19]
Services - €337.282 billion (2022)[ 20]
Export goods
Chemicals and related products 64.24%
Machinery and transport equipment 13.17%
Miscellaneous manufactured articles 10.18%
Food and live animals 7.11%
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material 1.57%
Crude materials, inedible, except fuels 1.05%
Beverages and tobacco 0.98%
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials 0.86%
Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes 0.07%
(2022)[ 19]
Main export partners
Imports
Goods - €140.199 billion (2022)[ 19]
Services - €354.051 billion (2022)[ 20]
Import goods
Machinery and transport equipment 35.76%
Chemicals and related products 27.38%
Miscellaneous manufactured articles 10.53%
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials 9.36%
Food and live animals 6.67%
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material 6.4%
Beverages and tobacco 0.83%
Crude materials, inedible, except fuels 0.81%
Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes 0.41%
(2022)[ 19]
Main import partners
€1.32 trillion (Q4 2022)[ 21]
Abroad: €1.11 trillion (Q4 2022)[ 21]
$17 billion (2022 est.)[ 22] €2.954 trillion (June 2022)[ 23] −€610 billion (July 2022)[ 22]
44.7% of GDP (2022)[ 24]
€224.8 billion (2022)[ 24]
€8.0 billion surplus (2022)[ 24]
+1.6% of GDP (2022)[ 24]
Revenues
€115.506 billion[ 24]
22.98% of GDP (2022)[ 24]
Expenses
€107.473 billion[ 24]
21.38% of GDP (2022)[ 24]
Economic aid $4.412 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[ 6] All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars .
The economy of the Republic of Ireland is a highly developed knowledge economy , focused on services in high-tech , life sciences , financial services and agribusiness , including agrifood . Ireland is an open economy (3rd on the Index of Economic Freedom ),[ 30] and ranks first for high-value foreign direct investment (FDI) flows.[ 31] In the global GDP per capita tables , Ireland ranks 2nd of 192 in the IMF table and 4th of 187 in the World Bank ranking.[ 32] [ 33]
Social expenditure stood at roughly 13.4% of GDP in 2024.[ 34] [ 35] [ 36] Following a period of continuous growth at an annual level from 1984 to 2007,[ 37] the post-2008 Irish financial crisis severely affected the economy, compounding domestic economic problems related to the collapse of the Irish property bubble . Ireland first experienced a short technical recession from Q2-Q3 2007, followed by a recession from Q1 2008 – Q4 2009.[ 38]
After a year with stagnant economic activity in 2010, the Irish real GDP rose by 2.2% in 2011 and 0.2% in 2012. This growth was mainly driven by improvements in the export sector. The European sovereign-debt crisis caused a new Irish recession to start in Q3 2012, which was still ongoing as of Q2 2013.[ 39] By mid-2013, the European Commission 's economic forecast for Ireland predicted its growth rates would return to a positive 1.1% in 2013 and 2.2% in 2014.[ 40] An inflated 2015 GDP growth of 26.3% (GNP growth of 18.7%) was officially partially ascribed to tax inversion practices by multinationals switching domiciles.[ 41] This growth in GDP, dubbed "leprechaun economics " by American economist Paul Krugman , was shown to be driven by Apple Inc. 's restructuring of its Irish subsidiary in January 2015. The distortion of Ireland's economic statistics (including GNI , GNP and GDP ) by the tax practices of some multinationals, led the Central Bank of Ireland to propose an alternative measure (modified GNI or GNI*)[ 42] to more accurately reflect the true state of the economy from that year onwards.[ 43] [ 44]
Foreign-owned multinationals continue to contribute significantly to Ireland's economy, making up 14 of the top 20 Irish firms (by turnover),[ 45] employing 23% of the private sector labour-force,[ 46] and paying 80% of the collected corporation tax.[ 47] [ 48]
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^ "Archived copy" (PDF) . Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017 .{{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link )
^ "Archived copy" (PDF) . Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017 .{{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link )
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^ Kenworthy, Lane (1999). "Do Social-Welfare Policies Reduce Poverty? A Cross-National Assessment" (PDF) . Social Forces . 77 (3): 1119–1139. doi :10.2307/3005973 . JSTOR 3005973 . Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 August 2013.
^ Moller, Stephanie; Huber, Evelyne; Stephens, John D.; Bradley, David; Nielsen, François (2003). "Determinants of Relative Poverty in Advanced Capitalist Democracies". American Sociological Review . 68 (1): 22–51. doi :10.2307/3088901 . JSTOR 3088901 .
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