Business in Ireland 2021 – Detailed Results

The performance of business in Ireland in 2021 was examined using a number of performance indicators. The Structural Business Surveys¹ were used to compile the data.

Labour productivity, personnel costs as a percentage of Gross Value Added (GVA), and enterprise profitability were analysed. The contribution of the 50 largest enterprises, both in terms of GVA and employment were also examined.

GVA represents the value of the goods and services produced, in this case, in the Manufacturing, Construction, Distribution, and Services sectors. A simple measure of productivity is to analyse GVA by the number of persons employed. The relatively large multinational sector in Ireland and the consequent assignment of value added to the Irish economy, can make the interpretation of indicators like GVA per person employed more difficult.

Care should be taken when looking at the results for micro-sized enterprises. This size class covers enterprises with less than 10 persons employed. This also includes enterprises that officially have no persons employed assigned to them, but in some cases have significant economic value. 

¹The surveys used were Census of Industrial Production (CIP), Building and Construction Inquiry (BCI), and Annual Services Inquiry (ASI). Financial and Insurance activities were excluded from this analysis.

GVA per Person Employed by Size Class

GVA at factor cost is the gross income from operating activities after adjusting for operating subsidies and indirect taxes. GVA per person employed averaged €174,763 for all enterprises in the Manufacturing, Construction, Distribution, and Services sectors in 2021. When considering just Irish-owned enterprises, the average GVA per person was €61,190. Small Irish-owned enterprises (10-49 persons employed) reported GVA per person employed of €48,038, while medium Irish-owned enterprises (50-249 persons employed) reported €60,138 GVA per person employed. GVA per person employed for large Irish-owned enterprises (250+ persons employed) was €68,993 but rose to €369,918 when foreign-owned large enterprises were included.

GVA per Person Employed by Sector and Size Class

In 2021, GVA per person employed averaged €369,918 for large enterprises and €87,899 for SMEs (<250 persons employed) in the selected sectors of the Irish business economy. Manufacturing enterprises reported the largest GVA per person employed for both SMEs and large enterprises at €136,008 and €1,096,504 respectively. In the Services sector, the average GVA per person employed for large firms was €216,000 compared with €92,638 for SMEs in 2021. Large enterprises in the Distribution sector reported an average GVA per person employed of €70,748 compared with €73,154 for SMEs. In the Construction sector, the average GVA per person employed in large enterprises was €48,817, while in SMEs it was €52,242.

Personnel Costs as a Percentage of GVA by Size Class

In 2021, personnel costs accounted for 22.5% of GVA across all enterprises while Irish-owned enterprises accounted for 51.8%. Personnel costs for small Irish-owned enterprises amounted to 70.6% of GVA while personnel costs accounted for two thirds (66.8%) of GVA for large Irish-owned enterprises in 2021. When large foreign-owned enterprises were also included, personnel costs declined to just 13.9% of GVA.

Personnel Costs as a Percentage of GVA by Sector and Size Class

In 2021, personnel costs as a percentage of GVA averaged 38.6% for SMEs and 13.9% for large enterprises. Large Manufacturing enterprises paid 5.4% of GVA in personnel costs compared with 40.7% for SMEs in this sector. The Distribution sector had the least disparity in personnel costs as a percentage of GVA for SMEs and large enterprises (45.0% and 52.4% respectively).

Gross Operating Surplus (GOS) as a Percentage of Turnover by Size Class

GOS is the surplus generated by operating activities after the labour factor input has been recompensed. For all enterprises in selected sectors in the Irish business economy, more than one-quarter (25.2%) of turnover was reported as GOS in 2021. The highest rate of GOS as a percentage of turnover for all enterprises was reported by large enterprises (31.2%).

For Irish-owned enterprises only, GOS was 5.4% of turnover. The highest rate of GOS as a percentage of turnover for Irish-owned enterprises was reported by micro enterprises (43.1%).

GOS as a Percentage of Turnover by Sector for SMEs

For SMEs in 2021, GOS was the equivalent of 31.2% of turnover, while for large enterprises it was 25.2% of turnover. The Construction sector had the largest disparity by size class when analysing GOS relative to turnover. Large Construction enterprises reported a GOS which represented 9.1% of their turnover, compared with -4.3% for Construction SMEs. The Manufacturing sector generated the largest GOS as a percentage of turnover for SMEs in 2021 at 41.4%.

Top 50 Enterprises

In 2021, the 50 largest enterprises by GVA in Manufacturing, Construction, Distribution, and Services accounted for 48.5% of total turnover, 60.2% of total GVA and 75.8% of GOS. These Top 50 enterprises accounted for only 3.7% of all persons employed. The 50 largest enterprises by employment accounted for 32.5% of total turnover, 30.9% of total GVA, and 35.9% of GOS.

The Manufacturing sector stands out in terms of its reliance upon a small number of high value-added enterprises. The 50 largest enterprises by GVA in Manufacturing accounted for 82.3% of total turnover, 90.6% of total GVA, and 97.1% of GOS.