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Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Ireland economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Ireland best banks and safest banks are also available.
Kieran Donoghue, head of international financial services, strategy and public policy for Ireland’s Investment Development Agency, talks with Global Finance about how FDI is changing and new global trends shaped by Brexit.
USD 3.4 billion (2016)
International Monetary Fund (IMF), data retrieved January 2017
USD 325.8 billion (2017, estimate)
Intl$ 341.9 billion (2017, estimate)
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
| 5.9% | 3.8% | -4.4% | -4.6% | 2% | 0% | -1.1% |
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016* | 2017* | ||
| 1.1% | 8.5% | 26.3% | 4.9% | 3.2% |
*Estimate
USD 69,118.9 (2017, estimate)
| 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2017* |
| 0.20% | 0.19% | 0.26% | 0.23% | 0.3% |
*Estimate
(2016 estimate)
1.5% (2014)
OECD, data retrieved January 2017
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016* | 2017* |
| 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 1.2% |
*Estimate
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016* | 2017* |
| 13.1% | 11.3% | 9.5% | 8.3% | 7.7% |
*Estimate
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016* | 2017* |
| 119.5% | 105.2% | 78.7% | 74.6% | 72.6% |
*Estimate
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016* | 2017* |
| -5.7% | -3.7% | -1.9% | -0.7% | -0.5% |
*Estimate
Standard & Poor's: A+
Moody's: A3
Standard & Poor's / Moody's (Updated January 2017)
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| USD 170.1 billion | USD 143.5 billion | USD 128 billion |
Accenture, Eaton, CRH, Allied Irish Banks, XL Group, Shire, Ingersoll-Rand, Bank of Ireland, Ryanair Holdings, Kerry Group, Seagate Technology, Experian, Perrigo, Smurfit Kappa Group, DCC, Mallinckrodt, Endo, Permanent TSB Group, Jazz Pharmaceuticals.
9.1% (2017 estimate)
124.0% (2015)
0.7% (2015)
2.7% (2015)
Machinery and equipment, computers, chemicals, medical devices, pharmaceuticals; foodstuffs, animal products
Data processing equipment, other machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum and petroleum products, textiles, clothing
US 23.7%, UK 13.8%, Belgium 13.2%, Germany 6.6%, Switzerland 5.5%, Netherlands 4.4%, France 4.4% (2015)
UK 32.5%, US 14%, France 10.2%, Germany 9.3%, Netherlands 4.9%, China 4.1% (2015)
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| USD 44,899 million | USD 31,134 million | USD 100,542 million |
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| USD 29,026 million | USD 43,133 million | USD 101,616 million |
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| USD 2628.7 million | USD -3342.0 million | USD 10577.8 million | USD 97479.7 million |
Mallinckrodt PLC, Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc, United States, USD 5.6 billion / Shire PLC, ViroPharma Inc, United States, USD 4.2 billion
Actavis PLC, Allergan Inc, United States, USD 68.4 billion / CRH PLC, Lafarge SA & Holcim Ltd-Certain Assets, France, USD 7.4 billion / Shire PLC, NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc, United States, USD 5.1 billion / Perrigo Co PLC, Omega Pharma Invest NV, Belgium, USD 4.5 billion / XL Group PLC, Catlin Group Ltd, Bermuda, USD 3.8 billion
Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.
Overall ranking: 18 out of 190 countries (2017)
Subcategories:
Starting a business: 10 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 90 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 41 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 32 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 13 out of 190 countries
Trading Across Borders: 47 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 5 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 38 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 33 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 17 out of 190 countries
23 out of 138 countries
(2016-2017)
Ranking: 8 / Score: 77.31 (Mostly free) (2016)
(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)
English (official, the language generally used), Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official, spoken by approximately 38.7% of the population as a first or second language in 2011; mainly spoken in areas along the western coast)
Roman Catholic 84.7%, Church of Ireland 2.7%, other Christian 2.7%, Muslim 1.1%, other 1.7%, unspecified 1.5%, none 5.7% (2011 est.)
| 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2016* | 2021* |
| 3.506 million | 3.79 million | 4.555 million | 4.675 million | 4.875 million |
*Estimate
| 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2015 |
| 46% | 55% | 59% | 63% |
32.5 (2012)
(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 1 (2017)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Fixed 40.87% Mobile 103.71% (2015)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)