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Detailed Business Sectors

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The business sectors presented in previous chapters have been broken into fifteen more detailed sectors, based on the NACE Rev. 2 sectoral classification. See Appendix 3.

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Active enterprises
Mining & quarrying451
Manufacturing16701
Electricity, gas etc637
Water supply etc1028
Construction57255
Motor trade9390
Wholesale trade14348
Retail trade24860
Transportation & storage25736
Accommodation & food19205
Information & communication15953
Financial & insurance8121
Real estate15178
Professional, scientific etc43587
Administrative & support18716
  • Construction accounted for the largest number of active enterprises with 57,255 enterprises active in 2017
  • The smallest sectors were Mining & quarrying and Electricity, gas, etc which accounted for just 1,088 enterprises combined 
Persons engaged
Mining & quarrying4155
Manufacturing219762
Electricity, gas etc9588
Water supply etc9461
Construction137239
Motor trade37289
Wholesale trade104823
Retail trade225293
Transportation & storage100629
Accommodation & food189186
Information & communication102027
Financial & insurance102725
Real estate28088
Professional, scientific etc145353
Administrative & support140181
  • Retail trade accounted for the largest number of persons engaged with over 225,000 in 2017
  • This was followed by Manufacturing which had just under 220,000 persons engaged 
  • Although Construction accounted for the largest number of active enterprises by sector in 2017, it was only the 6th largest sector for employment with a total of 137,239 persons engaged in 2017
  • Mining & quarrying and Water supply etc accounted for the lowest number of persons engaged in 2017, with 4,155 and 9,461 persons respectively  
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The CSO Structural Business Surveys are used to analyse the financial data for the detailed sectors. Turnover and Gross Value Added (GVA) are presented in absolute terms. GVA per person engaged gives an indication of the productivity of the detailed sectors, while the profitability of the sectors is also analysed using Gross Operating Surplus (GOS) as a percentage of turnover. The variable GOS is broadly analogous to profit and is the balance available to the enterprise which allows it to provide a return to shareholders, to pay taxes and to finance all or part of its investment.

The Financial and Insurance sector is excluded from this section, while the Other Services Activities sector (NACE Rev.2 - R92, R93, S95 and S96) is included. Accordingly, all the measures below for GVA, GOS and productivity relate to the non-financial business economy only (which encompasses the broad sectors of Industry, Services, Distribution & Construction).

GVA
Mining & quarrying 0.8
Manufacturing97.3
Electricity gas etc2.9
Water supply etc0.9
Construction9.2
Motor trade1.7
Wholesale trade12.5
Retail trade8.2
Transportation & storage8
Accomodation & food4.9
Information & communication29.1
Real estate1.6
Professional, scientific etc13.1
Administrative & support16.7
Other services 2.2
  • The Manufacturing sector generated the largest GVA in the Irish non-financial business economy amounting to €97.3 billion in 2017
  • In 2017 the Information & communication sector provided the second largest contribution to GVA in Ireland (€29.1 billion)
  • The Mining & quarrying sector was the smallest producer of GVA in Ireland in 2017 (€0.8 billion)
GVA per person engaged
Mining & quarrying 185906
Manufacturing442580
Electricity gas etc307086
Water supply etc96497
Construction67230
Motor trade45206
Wholesale trade118999
Retail trade36552
Transportation & storage79360
Accomodation & food25888
Information & communication285673
Real estate56988
Professional, scientific etc90278
Administrative & support119048
Other services 31339
  • The Manufacturing sector generated the highest value added per person engaged in Ireland at €442,580 in 2017
  • The sector that included Electricity, gas, etc was the second largest contributor in Ireland for GVA per person engaged in 2017, amounting to €307,086 per person engaged
  • The lowest recorded GVA per person engaged in Ireland in 2017 was in the Accommodation & food services sector at €25,888 per person engaged
Gross operating surplus as a percentage of turnover
Mining & quarrying25.1
Manufacturing37.9
Electricity, gas, etc25.4
Water supply etc24.5
Construction13
Motor trades 3.2
Wholesale trade 5.6
Retail trade 7
Transportation and storage 21.5
Accommodation and food11.2
Information and communication20.5
Real estate activities27.8
Professional, scientific etc21.5
Administrative and support 33.8
Other service activities14.9
  • The Manufacturing sector generated the most Gross Operating Surplus as a percentage of Turnover in 2017 (37.9%) 
  • This was followed by the Administrative and support service activities sector which generated 33.8% of Turnover as GOS in 2017
  • The Motor trades sector generated the least Gross Operating Surplus as a percentage of Turnover with just 3.2% in 2017
6.1 Nace Rev.2 detailed sector descriptions

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