Back to Top
75 years of the CSO
Statistics Database
cso.ie as Gaeilge

 Skip navigation

Show Menu  

Business in Ireland 2018

Detailed Business Sectors

Open in Excel:

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.

Open in Excel:
Active enterprises
Mining & quarrying447
Manufacturing16542
Electricity, gas etc668
Water supply etc1046
Construction57626
Motor trade9299
Wholesale trade14204
Retail trade24286
Transportation & storage24876
Accommodation & food19172
Information & communication15910
Financial & insurance8670
Real estate14913
Professional, scientific etc43635
Administrative & support19050
  • The Construction sector accounted for the largest number of active enterprises with 57,626 enterprises active in 2018
  • The sectors with the lowest number of active enterprises were Mining & quarrying and Electricity, gas, etc with 447 and 668 enterprises respectively
X-axis labelPersons engaged
Mining & quarrying4113
Manufacturing227338
Electricity, gas etc9135
Water supply etc10049
Construction144521
Motor trade37259
Wholesale trade109535
Retail trade228174
Transportation & storage102095
Accommodation & food194889
Information & communication107256
Financial & insurance105424
Real estate29219
Professional, scientific etc154162
Administrative & support144742
  • Retail trade accounted for the largest number of persons engaged with over 228,000 in 2018
  • This was followed by the Manufacturing sector which had 227,338 persons engaged 
  • Although Construction accounted for the largest number of active enterprises by sector in 2018, it was only the 6th largest sector for employment with a total of 144,521 persons engaged in 2018
  • Mining & quarrying and Electricity, gas etc accounted for the lowest number of persons engaged in 2018, with 4,113 and 9,135 persons respectively  
Open in Excel:

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).

X-axis labelGVA
Mining & quarrying 0.6
Manufacturing103.5
Electricity gas etc2.4
Water supply etc0.8
Construction10.7
Motor trade1.7
Wholesale trade13.6
Retail trade8.1
Transportation & storage6.9
Accommodation & food5.2
Information & communication35.8
Real estate2.1
Professional, scientific etc15.4
Administrative & support23
Other services 2.3
  • The Manufacturing sector generated the largest Gross Value Added (GVA) in the Irish non-financial business economy amounting to €103.5 billion in 2018
  • In 2018 the Information & communication sector provided the second largest contribution to GVA in Ireland (€35.8 billion)
  • The Mining & quarrying sector was the lowest producer of GVA in Ireland in 2018 (€0.6 billion)
X-axis labelGVA per person engaged
Mining & quarrying 137007
Manufacturing455104
Electricity gas etc259317
Water supply etc80585
Construction73878
Motor trade45024
Wholesale trade124584
Retail trade35678
Transportation & storage68012
Accommodation & food26803
Information & communication333480
Real estate71363
Professional, scientific etc99903
Administrative & support159032
Other services 32180
  • The Manufacturing sector generated the highest Gross Value Added (GVA) per person engaged in Ireland at €455,104 in 2018
  • The Information & communication sector was the second largest contributor in Ireland for GVA per person engaged in 2018, amounting to €333,480 per person engaged
  • The lowest recorded GVA per person engaged in Ireland in 2018 was in the Accommodation & food services sector at €26,803 per person engaged
X-axis labelGross operating surplus as a percentage of turnover
Mining & quarrying25.2
Manufacturing35.7
Electricity, gas, etc16.7
Water supply etc21
Construction14.4
Motor trade3.8
Wholesale trade 6.3
Retail trade 6.1
Transportation & storage 13.2
Accommodation & food11.3
Information & communication22.1
Real estate activities32.9
Professional, scientific etc24.3
Administrative & support 39.6
Other service activities13.7
  • The Administrative and support service activities sector generated the most Gross Operating Surplus (GOS) as a percentage of Turnover in 2018 (39.6%) 
  • This was followed by the Manufacturing sector which generated 35.7% of Turnover as GOS in 2018
  • The Motor trade sector generated the least GOS as a percentage of Turnover with just 3.8% in 2018
6.1 Nace Rev.2 detailed sector descriptions

Table 6.2 Gross value added per person engaged by detailed sector, 2018

Go to next chapter >>> Multinationals: An Irish Perspective

Contents

Why you can Trust the CSO

Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.

go to trust & transparency

Contact:

Central Statistics Office
Skehard Road, Cork T12 X00E, Ireland

Tel:
(+353) 21 453 5000
E-Mail:
information@cso.ie

Links:

Careers

You can count on a rewarding career with the CSO.

Learn about our variety of roles and the benefits of working with the CSO.

Follow: