Business in Ireland Abridged 2012

Some international comparisons of the key characteristics of the business economy are presented here.  These comparisons are possible as Structural Business Statistics are collected across most of the then 27 countries of the European Union (EU27).  The reference year used is 2011, as data for 2012 is incomplete for some large countries.  All data is available on the Eurostat website[1].

Business Demography data are used to compile international comparisons for the number of active enterprises and the number of persons engaged in the broad sectors.  Please note that for the purposes of this chapter Services is defined as NACE Sectors H, I, J, L, M and N.

Active Enterprises

Industry accounted for 7.3% of the total number of active enterprises in Ireland in 2011. The same percentage is shared by Belgium and the United Kingdom.  Only Luxembourg and the Netherlands had a smaller percentage of enterprises engaged in Industry at 3.4% and 6.3% respectively, while the Czech Republic recorded the largest percentage at 17.3%.  See Figure 10.1 and Table 10.1.

Construction accounted for 19.4% of active enterprises in Ireland, exceeded only by Slovakia with 20%.  This was due to Construction in Ireland being characterised by many small enterprises. 

Distribution in Ireland accounted for 22.7% of active enterprises, while Slovenia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom were the countries who recorded lower percentages. 

There were more than twice as many Services enterprises in Ireland at 47.6% compared to 22.7% recorded in the Distribution sector. Sweden and the United Kingdom showed the largest difference between these two sectors with almost three times as many enterprises in the Services sector than in the Distribution sector.

Financial and Insurance Activities accounted for 2.9% of active enterprises in Ireland.  Luxembourg with 5% and Hungary with 4.7% had the largest percentage of enterprises in this sector.

The structural business surveys are used to compile international comparisons for turnover, gross value added (GVA), productivity and profitability.  See Tables 10.3 to 10.5.

The sectoral breakdown is somewhat different in these tables compared to the Business Demography data presented in Tables 10.1 and 10.2.  Industry has been replaced by Manufacturing for confidentiality reasons and it was not possible to include the Financial and Insurance Activities sector.  The total turnover figures for the then EU27 were not available in the Eurostat website for 2011 at the time of this publication.

Turnover

Total turnover in Ireland in 2011 was €313 billion with Distribution and Manufacturing and Services accounting for similar proportions at 32.9%, 32.7% and 31.4% respectively.  Construction only accounted for only 3.0%. 

Germany reported the largest total turnover in the then EU27 at over €5000 billion.  The proportion shared among the four main economic sectors was 39% for the Manufacturing sector, 36.8% for the Distribution sector, 20.4% for the Services sector and 3.9% for the Construction sector.  In contrast, Cyprus reported the smallest total turnover in 2011 at €25.3 billion and it displayed the largest proportion of turnover originating from the Construction sector across the then EU27 at 10.8% of total turnover.  See Table 10.3.

Gross value added (GVA)

In Ireland, Manufacturing accounted for 39.3% of total GVA.  Only Hungary with 41.8% and the Czech Republic with 41% recorded a higher percentage share in Manufacturing.  In the UK, Manufacturing accounted for a much lower percentage of GVA at 19.4%.  See Table 10.4.

Compared to the large EU countries, the Construction sector in Ireland accounted for a very low percentage of GVA at 4.0%.  Cyprus had the highest percentage at 16.0%.

The Distribution sector in Ireland accounted for 18.1% of GVA which was a similar percentage to the large countries across the EU. See Figure 10.3

Services accounted for 38.6% of GVA in Ireland while the highest percentage of 51.9% was recorded in the United Kingdom.