Measuring Ireland's Progress 2017

GDP at current market prices increased from €197.2bn in 2007 to €294.1bn in 2017.

Gross National Income (GNI) also increased between 2007 and 2017, from €170.5bn to €234.2bn. However, as a percentage of GDP, GNI decreased in the same time period, from 86.5% to 79.6%. 

Modified Gross National Income (GNI*) is a new indicator that is designed to exclude globalisation effects that have a disproportionate impact on the measurement of the size of the Irish economy, see Appendix 1 for further details.

Modified GNI (GNI*) at current prices fell from €165.6bn in 2007 to €126.4bn in 2012, before increasing over the next five years to €181.2bn by 2017. 

GNI* at current prices per capita fell from €37,835 in 2007 to €27,526 in 2012 and has increased each year since then to €37,805 in 2017.

Five countries in the EU 28 had Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Income (GNI) greater than one trillion euros. Germany had the highest GDP at €3.3tn. The other four countries were the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Spain.

Ireland had the 11th highest GDP in the EU 28 at €294.1bn in 2017.

Of those countries outside the EU, Turkey had the highest GDP at €753.9bn. Montenegro had the lowest GDP at €4.0bn. 

Four countries in the EU 28 had a GNI that is greater than their GDP, including Denmark (GNI was 102.1% of GDP), Sweden (101.9%), Finland (101.2%), and Italy (100.5%). For the EU overall, GNI was 99.4% of GDP.

Ireland had the second lowest ratio of GNI to GDP at 79.6%, which can be attributed to the importance of foreign direct investment into the Irish economy. The lowest ratio of GNI to GDP was in Luxembourg at 65.1%.

In 2007 the GDP growth rate in Ireland was 5.0% It then decreased to a low of -5.0% in 2009 before returning to positive growth in 2010 at 1.9%. 

The growth rate then dipped again in 2012 at 0.2%, before increasing to 25.1% in 2015. The dramatic increase in the growth rate in 2015 can be attributed to the globalisation activities of a small number of companies. 

In 2017, Ireland had the highest annual GDP growth rate in the EU at 7.2%.

The average GDP growth rate for both the EU 28 and for the Eurozone 19 was 2.4%.

Three countries in the EU 28 had a GDP growth rate greater than 5.0% in 2017: Ireland, Romania, and Malta. Four countries in the EU 28 had a GDP growth rate less than 2.0% in 2017: Belgium, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Greece. No country experienced negative growth in the EU 28 in 2017.

GNI* per capita in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) in Ireland was 100 in 2013, increasing to 118 by 2016. In 2017, GNI* per capita in PPS was 113, 13% higher than the EU average. 

Ireland had the second highest GDP per capita in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) in 2017 at 184, compared to the EU average of 100, 84% higher than the EU average.

GDP per capita in PPS in Ireland fell from 148 in 2008 to 129 in 2009, before increasing to 137 by 2014. In 2015, GDP per capita increased sharply to 181 in Ireland. This increase can be attributed to the unprecedented growth in GDP the same year, resulting from the globalisation activities of a small number of companies. 

Luxembourg had the highest GDP per capita in PPS in the EU 28 in 2017, at 253, while Bulgaria had the lowest at 49. 

All thirteen of the countries that joined the EU in 2004 or after had a GDP per capita in PPS below the EU average. Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece were the remaining countries below the EU average.

From 2000 to 2017, Ireland had a general government consolidated gross debt between 20.0% and 30.0% of GDP. In 2008, the debt to GDP ratio increased to 49.0% before increasing sharply in the following five years to 119.7% by 2013.

In 2014, the debt to GDP ratio in Ireland dropped to 104.1% and continued to decline over subsequent years, to 68.4% in 2017.

In 2017, Ireland had the sixteenth highest general government consolidated gross debt as a percentage of GDP in the EU. However, based on GNI*, Ireland had the fourth highest debt to GDP ratio in the EU at 111.1%.

The highest debt to GDP ratio in the EU in 2017 was in Greece at 178.6%, while the lowest was in Estonia at just 9.0%.

Ireland's public balance, the ratio between net lending and net borrowing, was -0.4% of GDP or -0.6% of GNI* in 2017. In 2016, the public balance was -0.5% of GDP and -0.8% of GNI*.

Ireland's public balance in 2017 was higher than the EU average of -1.0%.

In 2007, the public balance of Ireland was positive, at 0.33%. However, by 2008 it had decreased significantly to -7.0% of GDP, meaning that net borrowing had exceeded net lending. From there it continued to decrease to -32.1% of GDP in 2010. 

After 2010, the public balance increased and by 2015 it had fallen below the 3.0% deficit limit established by the EMU Stability and Growth Pact. 

In 2017, the two countries with the highest public balance deficit were Portugal and Spain, at 3.0% and 3.1% of GDP respectively, exceeding the 3.0% EMU limit. 

Malta had the highest positive public balance in 2017, at 3.9% of GDP.

General government total expenditure increased in Ireland from €70.8bn to €109.1bn between 2007 and 2010 before dropping sharply to €72.5bn in 2013. Over the next four years, total government expenditure rose to €77.6bn. 

Government total expenditure increased from 41.5% of GDP in 2007 to 77.6% by 2010, before decreasing to 26.4% in 2017.

Government spending as a percentage of GNI* followed a similar pattern increasing from 42.8% in 2007 to 84.6% in 2010 before dropping to 42.8% by 2017.

Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) in Ireland was 23.5% of GDP in 2017, the fifth highest rate in the EU and above the EU average of 20.1%. 

However, as a percentage of GNI* Ireland had the highest investment in capital formation at 38.1% in 2017. This was a decrease from 2016, when GFCF as a percentage of GDP was 55.5%. 

Sweden had the highest GFCF in the EU in 2017 at 25.0%, while Greece had the lowest at 12.6%.

Ireland's current account surplus was the third highest in the EU in 2017 at 8.5% of GDP, compared to a current account deficit of 4.2% of GDP in 2016.

As a percentage of GNI*, Ireland's current account balance was 13.8% in 2017, compared to a deficit of 6.5% of GNI* in 2016. 

Malta had the highest current account surplus as a percentage of GDP in the EU at 13.8%, followed by the Netherlands at 10.5%. 

In 2017, seven EU countries had a current account deficit, namely France, Finland, Greece, Slovakia, Romania, the United Kingdom, and Cyprus.

Exports of goods and services were 119.9% of GDP in Ireland in 2017, the third highest rate in the EU after Luxembourg and Malta.

In Ireland exports of goods and services increased from 144.2% of GNI* in 2014 to 198.6% of GNI* in 2015. Along with the notable increase in GDP the same year, this can be attributed to the globalisation activities of a small number of companies.

The United Kingdom had the lowest value of exports in 2017 in the EU, at 30.2% of GDP.

Ireland's exports account for 194.6% of GNI* in 2017.

Imports of goods and services were 89.5% of GDP in Ireland in 2017, the fourth highest rate in the EU, and a drop from 104.6% in 2016. 

As a percentage of GNI*, Ireland's imports were 145.3% in 2017, down from 162.6% in 2016.

The high level of imports and exports relative to national income reflects the fact that Ireland's economy is very open (see Table 2.10 for data on exports). 

Only Luxembourg and Malta had imports greater than 100% of GDP, while in Italy imports were just 28.2% of GDP.

Ireland experienced a small increase in consumer prices of 0.4% between 2013 and 2017, less than the average of 2.5% in the EU. 

Austria, Belgium, Estonia and the United Kingdom had an increase of 5.0% or more in consumer prices between 2013 and 2017, while prices decreased in Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Greece over the same time period.

In 2017, comparative price levels of final consumption by private households in Ireland were 25.4% higher than the EU average. 

Ireland had the fourth highest price levels in the EU in 2017, after Denmark, Luxembourg, and Sweden.

In 2008, price levels for final consumption by private households in Ireland were 26.5% above the EU average (see Figure 2.9). Price levels in Ireland then dropped to 17.9% above the EU average by 2012, before increasing in recent years.

Bulgaria had the lowest prices in the EU in 2017, with prices just under half the EU average at 48.4%.

The employment rate in Ireland was 67.4% in 2017, just below the EU average of 67.7%. Sweden had the highest employment rate in 2017 at 76.9%, followed by the Netherlands and Germany at about 75.0%. The lowest rate of employment was in Greece at 53.5%. 

The employment rate in Ireland fell sharply from 71.7% in 2007 to 59.8% by 2012, before increasing each year since then to stand at 67.4% in 2017 (see Figure 2.10).

The male employment rate fell from 80.4% in 2007 to 63.4% in 2012, before rising to 72.6% in 2017. The employment rate for females followed a similar patter, falling from 62.8% in 2007 to 56.3% in 2012 and then rising to 62.3% in 2017. 

Male employment rates are higher than female rates in all EU countries, with the smallest difference in Lithuania at 0.4% and the largest gap in Malta at 22.5%.

In 2007 the male employment rate in Ireland was 17.6 percentage points higher than the female rate, but by 2017 this gender gap had decreased to 10.3 percentage points (see Figure 2.10).

GDP in PPS per hour worked can be considered a measure of labour productivity per hour worked. When the Foreign Sector is excluded, Ireland had a GDP in PPS per hour worked 19.0% higher than the EU average in 2017.

Labour productivity in all sectors in Ireland increased from 38.7% to 77.4% above the EU average between 2014 and 2015. This large increase can be mainly attributed to the impact of globalisation on GDP (see Tables 2.1 and 2.3).

Bulgaria had the lowest labour productivity in 2017 at 53.7% below the EU average.

In 2017, Ireland had a total unemployment rate of 6.9%, below the EU average of 7.6%. Ireland had the sixteenth lowest unemployment rate in the EU in 2017. 

The Czech Republic had the lowest unemployment rate in the EU at 2.9% in 2017, while the highest rate was 21.5% in Greece.

In Ireland, the male unemployment rate in 2017 was 7.5% and female unemployment was 6.2%, resulting in a gender differential of 1.3 percentage points. 

Greece had the largest gender differential in the EU at 8.3 percentage points (26.1% for females and 17.8% for males). Poland had no gender differential, with an unemployment rate of 4.9% for both males and females. 

The unemployment rate for males was lower than that for females in thirteen EU countries in 2017.

In 2017, Ireland had a long-term unemployment rate of 3.1%, below the EU average of 3.4%. 

In the EU, the Czech Republic had the lowest long-term unemployment rate at 1.0%, and Greece had the highest at 15.6%.

In Ireland, the male long-term unemployment rate was 3.8% compared to 2.4% for females, resulting in a gender differential of 1.3 percentage points. 

The country with the highest gender differential in the EU was Greece at -6.8 percentage points (female long-term unemployment was higher than male). Neither Denmark nor Malta had any gender differential.

In Ireland, one in ten persons aged 18-59 lived in jobless households in 2017. This was just above the EU average of 9.6%, but less than the Eurozone average of 10.2%. Ireland had the seventh highest percentage of people living in a jobless household in the EU. 

In 2017, the Czech Republic had the lowest percentage of people living jobless households at 4.2%, while Greece had the highest at 16.1%.

The percentage of people aged 18-59 living in jobless households in Ireland increased from 7.9% to 15.9% between 2006 and 2012, before dropping to 10.0% by 2017.

Nationally, residential property prices decreased 53.0% between 2008 and 2013, a drop of 67.9 percentage points. In 2013, national property prices reached their lowest point, and from there they increased 68.1% by 2018. 

In Dublin, residential property prices dropped 56.1% between 2008 and 2012, subsequently increasing 83.6% by 2018.

Property prices in the rest of Ireland decreased between 2008 and 2013 by 54.5%, before rising again 58.5% by 2018.

New Dwelling Completions is a new measure developed by the CSO of housing and construction in Ireland. It combines multiple data sources to provide a more accurate assessment of the number of new dwellings. 

The number of new dwellings in Ireland rose from a total of 6,994 in 2011 to 14,435 in 2017, an increase of 106.4%. 

Between 2011 and 2017, apartments increased by 173.6% and scheme houses rose by 483.2%. However, in the same time period, the number of single houses decreased by 11.4%.

In 2017, there were 4,266 new single houses, 7,920 new scheme houses, and 2,249 new apartments.