Business in Ireland 2020

Multinationals play an important role in the economy of many countries. Increasingly, multinationals create a physical presence in several countries around the world to maximise their global earnings.

This chapter presents statistics on the activities of the affiliates of Irish multinationals abroad and the contribution made by the affiliates of foreign-owned multinationals in Ireland. See Tables 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 at the end of this section for more detail on the data in the graphs.

Employment in Irish Multinationals Abroad

• Asia (33.5%), the Americas (33.4%), and Europe (including Russia) (31.1%) each accounted for around a third of total persons engaged
• Employment in the Oceania & Polar regions (1.1%) and Africa (0.9%) combined accounted for the remaining 2.0%

Irish Multinationals Abroad and Foreign-owned Multinationals in Ireland

• ‌In 2020, Irish multinationals had 1,200,342 persons engaged in foreign affiliates and generated turnover of €237.7 billion outside of Ireland
• Foreign-owned multinationals in Ireland had 457,990 persons engaged in affiliates and generated €581.9 billion in turnover

Irish Multinationals Abroad

For further information on Irish Multinationals Abroad please visit the Outward Foreign Affiliates Statistics 2020 release.

Turnover in Irish Multinationals Abroad

• In 2020, Irish multinationals abroad had turnover of €237.7bn, down 7.0% when compared with the €255.7bn recorded in 2019
• Affiliates in the United States (39.1%) and the United Kingdom (16.6%) accounted for 55.7% of all turnover in Irish multinationals abroad

Persons Engaged in Irish Multinationals Abroad

• There were 1,200,342 persons engaged in Irish multinationals abroad in 2020, almost a 3% increase compared with 2019
• Just under 22% of all persons engaged in Irish multinationals abroad were based in the United States, while 9.7% were in the United Kingdom

Persons Engaged in Irish Multinationals Abroad by Selected Country

• Along with the United States and the United Kingdom, there were significant numbers of persons engaged in Irish owned foreign affiliates across the globe, with 45,012 persons engaged in China, and just over 30,500 in Germany

Turnover in Irish Multinationals Abroad by Selected Country

• In 2020, Irish multinationals abroad in the United States and the United Kingdom generated turnovers of €93.0 billion and €39.4 billion respectively
• Irish owned affiliates in France generated turnover of €9.6 billion, while €9.1 billion was generated in Germany 

Persons Engaged in Irish Multinationals Abroad by Sector

• Services was the dominant sector for employment in Irish multinationals abroad in 2020 accounting for 56.1% of total persons engaged
• Manufacturing affiliates accounted for 26.1% of persons engaged, while Distribution, and Other sectors employed 15.5% and 2.3% respectively

Turnover in Irish Multinationals Abroad by Sector

• Almost two-thirds of the turnover generated by Irish affiliates abroad came from the Services and Distribution sectors with 33.6% and 31.7% respectively
• The Manufacturing sector accounted for 26.1% of turnover in all Irish multinationals abroad, while Other sectors were responsible for just over 8.6% 

Foreign-owned Multinationals in Ireland

The following statistics relate to foreign-owned multinationals in Ireland.

Percentage Contribution of Foreign-owned Multinationals in All Sectors

• In 2020, foreign-owned enterprises accounted for 73.1% of total gross value added (GVA) in the Irish non-financial business economy, compared to 69.2% in 2019. These enterprises accounted for 71.3% of total turnover in 2020
• Despite these significant contributions to both GVA and turnover, foreign-owned multinationals accounted for just 2.9% of the total number of enterprises in the Irish business economy in 2020
• Foreign-owned multinationals accounted for more than one-quarter (28.6%) of persons engaged in the Irish business economy in 2020

Percentage Contribution of Foreign-owned Industrial Multinationals

• The Industry sector was dominated by foreign-owned enterprises in 2020, producing 87.6% of GVA and 86.7% of turnover, the bulk of which came from enterprises that were owned outside the EU
• There were 868 foreign-owned multinationals in the Industrial sector, which represented just 4.5% of all enterprises in the Industrial sector and accounted for almost half (46.7%) of persons engaged

Percentage Contribution of Foreign-owned Distribution Multinationals

• In the Distribution sector, which includes Retail & Wholesale Trade, 1,715 (3.7%) of all enterprises were foreign-owned in 2020
• These foreign-owned multinationals employed 30.5% of all persons engaged in this sector and contributed 52.0% of total GVA and 51.8% of turnover

Percentage Contribution of Foreign-owned Services Multinationals

• Just 3.2% of all Service sector enterprises in Ireland in 2020 were foreign-owned but they employed 26.1% of persons engaged in the sector
• These foreign-owned enterprises in the Services sector accounted for 73.4% of total turnover and 65.7% of total GVA