Ireland: Celtic Tiger Loses More Stripes
Foreign banks are pulling back from the Irish market amid regulatory tightening.
Ireland GDP and Economic Data
Includes Ireland real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.
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.
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International Reserves
USD 7.46 billion (2020)
World Bank, last updated 12/16/2021
Gross Domestic Product - GDP
USD 516.25 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021
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GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)
USD 561.46 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021
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Real GDP growth
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020* | 2021* |
| 8.9% | 9% | 4.9% | 5.9% | 13% |
*Estimate
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GDP per capita - current prices
USD 102,394.02 (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021
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GDP per capita - PPP
USD 111,359.65 (2021 estimate)
IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021
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GDP - composition by sector
- agriculture: 0.9%
- industry: 38.0%
- services: 54.8%
(2018)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP)
1.2% (2019)
OECD, retrieved January 2022
Inflation
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020* | 2021* |
| 0.3% | 0.7% | 0.9% | –0.5% | 1.9% |
*Estimate
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Unemployment rate
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020* | 2021* |
| 6.7% | 5.8% | 5% | 5.8% | 7.8% |
*Estimate
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Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020* | 2021* |
| 67.8% | 63.2% | 37.3% | 58.5% | 57.4% |
*Estimate
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Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020* | 2021* |
| 1.5% | 1.6% | 1.6% | 4% | –4.5% |
*Estimate
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Government bond ratings
Standard & Poor's: A+
Moody's: A2
Standard & Poor's / Moody's (January 2022)
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Market value of publicly traded shares
USD 110.2 billion (2018)
Largest companies
Medtronic, Accenture, Eaton, Johnson Controls International, Aon, Aptiv, Trane Technologies, Seagate Technology, Kerry Group, Experian, Smurfit Kappa Group, Flutter Entertainment, Bank of Ireland, AIB Group, Kingspan Group PLC, Horizon Therapeutics Public Limited Company, Steris, Ryanair Holdings
Forbes Global 2000 (2021)
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Current account balance by percentage of GDP
10.6 % (2018 estimate)
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Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services)
122.3% (2018)
Shares in world total merchandising export
0.85% (2018)
Shares in world total commercial services export
3.56% (2018)
Export commodities
Machinery and equipment, computers, chemicals, medical devices, pharmaceuticals; foodstuffs, animal products
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Import commodities
Data processing equipment, other machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum and petroleum products, textiles, clothing
Exports - major partners
US 27.1%, UK 13.4%, Belgium 11%, Germany 8.1%, Switzerland 5.1%, Netherlands 4.9%, France 4.3% (2017)
Imports - major partners
UK 29%, US 18.9%, France 12.1%, Germany 9.6%, Netherlands 4.1% (2017)
FDI inflows
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 39,389 million | USD -1,250 million | USD -66,346 million |
FDI outflows
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 30,064 million | USD -39,091 million | USD 13,272 million |
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 94,558 million | USD 67,162 million | USD -6,504 million | USD 3,650 million |
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014
Mallinckrodt PLC, Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc, United States, USD 5.6 billion / Shire PLC, ViroPharma Inc, United States, USD 4.2 billion
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015
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
Best countries for doing business
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:
24 out of 190 countries
Subcategories:
Starting a Business: 23 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 36 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 47 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 60 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 48 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 13 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 4 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 52 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 91 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 19 out of 190 countries
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Global competitiveness ranking
24 out of 141 countries
(2019)
Index of Economic Freedom
Ranking: 6 / Score: 80.5 (Free)
(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)
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Languages
English (official, the language generally used), Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official, spoken by approximately 39.8% of the population as of 2016; mainly spoken in areas along Ireland's western coast known as gaeltachtai, which are officially recognized re
Religions
Roman Catholic 78.3%, Church of Ireland 2.7%, other Christian 1.6%, Orthodox 1.3%, Muslim 1.3%, other 2.4%, none 9.8%, unspecified 2.6% (2016 est.)
Total population
| 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020* |
| 3.53 million | 3.83 million | 4.57 million | 4.71 million | 5.01 million |
*Estimate
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Urban population as % of total population
| 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2018 |
| 45.2% | 55.3% | 59.2% | 63.2% |
% of population living on less than $3.10 a day
0.5% (last available estimate, 2015)
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)
31.8 (last available estimate, 2015)
(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
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Freedom House rating
Free
Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 1 (2019)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
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Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed: 38% Mobile: 103.2% (2018)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)