Press Statement

Preasráiteas

02 September 2021

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (02 September 2021) published Quarterly National Accounts and International Accounts for Quarter 2 (Q2) 2021.

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

“Easing of COVID-19 related restrictions led to higher levels of economic activity for many of the sectors focused on the domestic market in Q2 2021 with the Construction sector increasing by 22.9% and the Distribution, Transport, Hotels & Restaurants sector growing by 0.7%. However, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing contracted by 3.5% in the quarter. 

Growth continued in the more globalised sectors of the economy with the Information & Communication sector increasing by 6.2% and Industry growing by 3.6% in the quarter. Overall, the sectors dominated by foreign-owned multinational enterprises grew by 3.7% compared with Q1 2021 while value added in the domestically oriented sectors increased by 2.0%. 

As the COVID-19 restrictions eased during the quarter, expenditure in the economy increased with personal spending on goods and services (the Personal Consumption Expenditure indicator) increasing by 12.6% in Q2 2021. Net exports of Goods & Services increased by 8.2% while capital formation rose by 5.8%. Government spending on goods and services increased by 0.9% in the quarter.

Overall, GDP is estimated to have increased by 6.3% in Q2 2021 and GNP - a measure of economic activity that excludes the profits of multinationals - increased by 6.7% in the quarter.”

Commenting on the impact of globalisation activities in the quarter, Ms Banim said:

“Final Domestic Demand, a measure of investment, personal and Government spending, increased by 7.9% in Q2 2021, reflecting the recovery in personal and investment spending compared with the previous quarter. As levels of trade in intellectual property products (IPP) and leased aircraft were low in Q2 2021, the Modified Domestic Demand (MDD) indicator increased by a similar level of 8.4% in the quarter.

In International Accounts results for Q2 2021, the Current Account of the Balance of Payments recorded a surplus of €15.0 billion in flows with the rest of the world, compared to a surplus of €9.9 billion in Q2 2020. The Merchandise balance increased by €8.0 billion compared to the same quarter in 2020 and the Services balance improved by €4.6 billion. Net outflows of multinational profits were €25.0 billion in the quarter, an increase of €8.2 billion on Q2 2020 levels.

Today’s International Accounts publication includes a table of Current Account transactions with the UK. The results show a surplus of €4.3 billion for Trade in Goods & Services with the UK in Q2 2021. The trade surplus was offset by a deficit of €3.0 billion for income flows, giving an overall Current Account surplus of €1.3 billion with the UK in the quarter.”

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