Press Statement

Preasráiteas

13 December 2019

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (Friday, 13 December 2019) published Quarterly National Accounts and International Accounts results for Quarter 3, 2019.

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

"Preliminary results for Quarter 3, 2019 show an increase of 1.7% in GDP when we compare results with Quarter 2, 2019. GNP showed an increase of 8.9% in the quarter.

Across the larger sectors of the economy, Industry (excl. Construction) grew by 1.1% in volume terms and Information & Communication increased by 0.8%. The most positive sectoral contributions to the Q3 results were made by the Financial & Insurance Activities sector, increasing by 5.7% in the quarter while the Professional, Administrative & Support Services sector increased by 5.1%. The Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing sector recorded a decrease of 3.2% in the quarter while the Distribution, Transport, Hotels & Restaurant sector recorded a decline of 1.0%.

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

• Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) rose by 0.9%. The domestically focused PCE indicator measures spending by individuals on goods and services and accounted for almost 47% of GDP in Quarter 3, 2019
• Exports of Goods and Services grew by 2.4% in the quarter
• The large decline in Imports of Goods and Services (22.5%) was driven principally by decreased imports of Intellectual Property Products (IPP) compared to Q2 2019. It is important to note that the overall impact of these imports on GDP is broadly neutral in the quarter, as declines in IPP imports are offset by declines in IPP investment
• Final Domestic Demand (an aggregate of personal and government expenditure and spending on capital investment) decreased by 28% in the quarter, largely driven by the lower levels of IPP investment when we compare with Q2 2019
• In contrast, growth in the CSO's Modified Final Domestic Demand (MFDD) measure, was 3.6% 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 the International Accounts, Quarter 3, 2019, Jennifer Banim continues:

"In the International Accounts, Balance of Payments results for Quarter 3, 2019, the Current Account recorded a surplus of €11.2 billion in flows with the rest of the world, compared with a surplus of €11.4 billion in Quarter 3, 2018 and a deficit of €26.5 billion in Q2 2019.

Today’s International Accounts release includes a table of Current Account transactions with the UK. The results show a surplus of €2.3 billion for trade in goods and services with the UK in the third quarter of 2019. The trade surplus was offset by a deficit of €4.1 billion for income flows, giving an overall Current Account deficit of €1.7 billion with the UK in the quarter, compared to a deficit of €0.7 billion in Quarter 3, 2018."

-- ENDS --