Press Statement

Preasráiteas

13 September 2019

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (Friday, 13 September 2019) published Quarterly National Accounts and International Accounts results for Quarter 2, 2019.

Assistant Director General with responsibility for Economic Statistics, Jennifer Banim, commented:

"Preliminary results for Quarter 2, 2019 show an increase of 0.7% in GDP when we compare results with Quarter 1, 2019. GNP showed a decrease of 2.8% in the quarter. As in previous quarters, we see the impact of globalisation events in the results today. The modified demand indicators, designed to remove these effects, are provided to give insight into underlying economic activity.

Across the larger sectors of the economy, Industry grew by 5.7% in volume terms and Information and Communication increased by 8.1% in Quarter 2, 2019. In the domestically focused sectors, Construction increased by 0.4% while the Distribution, Transport, Hotels and Restaurants sector decreased by 0.2%. The Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector recorded an increase of 3.9% in the quarter.

When we look at expenditure in the economy, we see that:

• Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) rose by 0.8%. The domestically focused PCE indicator measures spending by individuals on goods and services and accounted for almost 32% of GDP in Quarter 2, 2019.
• Exports of Goods and Services grew by 2.6% in the quarter.
• Large growth in Imports of Goods and Services (43%) was driven principally by increased imports of Intellectual Property Products (IPP), but it is important to note that the overall impact of these imports on GDP is broadly neutral in the quarter, as offsetting amounts for the IPP investment are added to capital stocks.
• Final Domestic Demand - an aggregate of personal and government expenditure and spending on capital investment - increased by 62% in the quarter, largely driven by the higher levels of IPP investment.
• Growth in the CSO's Modified Final Domestic Demand (MFDD) measure, in contrast, was 1.9% in the quarter. MFDD is an important indicator of underlying domestic demand that excludes globalisation effects such as trade in IPP and in aircraft by leasing companies."

Commenting on the results for Quarter 2, 2019 from the International Accounts, Jennifer Banim continues:

"In Balance of Payments results for Quarter 2, 2019, the Current Account recorded a deficit of €26.5 billion in flows with the rest of the world, compared with a surplus of €10.6 billion in Quarter 2, 2018. The change in the overall balance was driven by an increase in IPP imports and we see imports of Business Services increasing to €54.8 billion in the quarter compared to €16.7 billion in Quarter 2, 2018. We also observed continued strong growth in exports of computer services in the quarter, now worth over €27 billion.

Today’s Balance of Payments release includes a table of Current Account transactions with the UK. The results show a surplus of €2.1 billion for trade in goods and services with the UK in the second quarter of 2019. The trade surplus was offset by a deficit of €4.4 billion for income flows, giving an overall Current Account deficit of €2.3 billion with the UK in the quarter, compared to a deficit of €1.8 billion in Quarter 2, 2018."

-- ENDS --