This release was compiled during the COVID-19 crisis. The results contained in this release reflect some of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 situation. For further information see Information Note - Implications of COVID-19 on the Quarterly National Accounts Quarter 1 2021 Provisional.
| Table 1.1 GDP and GNP at constant 2018 prices, Q1 20211 | ||
| Amount €m | Quarterly % change | |
| GDP | 97,389 | 7.8 |
| GNP | 69,379 | -1.0 |
| 1Constant Market Prices, chain linked annually and referenced to year 2018, seasonally adjusted | ||
Initial estimates for the first quarter of 2021 indicate that there was an increase of 7.8% in GDP in real terms in Q1 2021 compared to the previous quarter.
| GDP | GNP | |
| Q1 2019 | -1.25664438401202 | -0.924766325182291 |
| Q2 2019 | 5.03294048159604 | 4.78088516024375 |
| Q3 2019 | -0.414552090662157 | 0.331021328447734 |
| Q4 2019 | 4.24798115968652 | 6.45569941522288 |
| Q1 2020 | -4.50417743891467 | -5.92597235792081 |
| Q2 2020 | -1.84065779272056 | -2.74876496729289 |
| Q3 2020 | 11.5020476128015 | -1.13036737826697 |
| Q4 2020 | -4.44063110438041 | 9.3430173542042 |
| Q1 2021 | 7.81354629536872 | -1.00437093002634 |
| Industry (excl. Construction) | Information and Communication | Public Admin, Education and Health | Distribution, Transport, Hotels and Restaurants | Professional, Admin and Support Services | Real Estate Activities | Financial and Insurance Activities | Construction | Agriculture Forestry and Fishing | Arts, Entertainment and Other Services | |
| Q1 2021 | 38.797938453 | 15.147429792 | 8.345876169 | 7.211981707 | 7.308573935 | 5.414137081 | 4.899743639 | 1.685455347 | 0.88601061 | 0.314676169 |
| Q4 2020 | 34.405514309 | 12.71679112 | 8.385809022 | 8.007802815 | 7.482718592 | 5.098236981 | 4.982624867 | 2.199017325 | 0.934456127 | 0.30310675 |
The Information & Communication and Industry (excluding Construction) sectors recorded strong growth in Q1 compared with the previous quarter, increasing by 19.1% and 12.8% respectively. The domestically dominated Distribution, Transport, Hotels & Restaurants sector decreased by 9.9% over the same period. Quarter-on-quarter increases were recorded in Real Estate (6.2%) and Arts & Entertainment (3.8%) while sectors that exhibited declines were Construction (23.4%), Professional & Administrative services (2.3%) and Finance & Insurance (1.7%). The Agriculture sector decreased by 5.2% over the period compared with Q4 2020. (See Table 2.5)
| Personal Consumption Expenditure | Government Expenditure | Gross Fixed Capital Formation | Value of Physical Changes in Stocks | Net Exports | Modified Final Domestic Demand | GDP | |
| Q1 2018 | 26.190268893 | 7.8458336864 | 16.256526707 | 1.8106755346 | 27.552886787 | 44.26372469 | 79.594004062 |
| Q2 2018 | 26.433919524 | 8.0637001173 | 16.668100919 | -0.3606491067 | 30.165818686 | 44.990119788 | 82.139727397 |
| Q3 2018 | 26.462161805 | 8.187982425 | 19.22498415 | 0.2541795001 | 26.751330798 | 44.89553769 | 82.139281147 |
| Q4 2018 | 26.457190475 | 8.1346709352 | 40.405437733 | -0.2992507696 | 10.717332784 | 44.993304103 | 83.997924825 |
| Q1 2019 | 27.256149433 | 8.5050337547 | 18.703413834 | 0.9649684292 | 27.689184717 | 46.221920521 | 82.94236962 |
| Q2 2019 | 27.349094249 | 8.5389191082 | 59.991374 | -1.103613284 | -8.49176234 | 46.073091086 | 87.116809717 |
| Q3 2019 | 27.140898053 | 8.6012492075 | 21.145821358 | 1.2268936141 | 27.225631863 | 46.603517562 | 86.755665161 |
| Q4 2019 | 27.135974546 | 8.6270702397 | 62.020656227 | 0.653182777 | -6.29055285000001 | 46.0444386 | 90.441029472 |
| Q1 2020 | 26.829450678 | 8.6682896788 | 50.061274531 | 1.0407804074 | -2.60386461999999 | 45.723602183 | 86.367405027 |
| Q2 2020 | 21.475545551 | 9.5940066417 | 17.377980507 | 1.6320412593 | 36.640256872 | 38.86100274 | 84.777676656 |
| Q3 2020 | 25.640209023 | 9.6857700174 | 18.457482344 | 0.7121703485 | 43.026643882 | 45.70168489 | 94.52884539 |
| Q4 2020 | 25.028438259 | 9.6987293283 | 23.635861566 | 1.8040793611 | 30.596194704 | 44.614041166 | 90.331168079 |
| Q1 2021 | 23.760532904 | 9.8067135821 | 19.030127562 | 0.6281076633 | 46.260776788 | 43.301673223 | 97.389235716 |
On the expenditure side of the accounts (Table 3.5), Exports increased by 5.8% in Q1 2021 compared with Q4 2020 while Imports declined by 8.9% which meant that overall net exports for the quarter were 51.2% higher in Q1 compared with Q4 or €15.7 billion higher in money terms quarter-on-quarter. Capital Investment exhibited a decrease of €5.8 billion in Q1 compared with the previous quarter and accounted for 36.9% of domestic demand in Q1 2021. These two impacts when combined resulted in an overall increase in the real GDP growth rate in Q1 2021 of 7.8%. With Personal Consumption Expenditure down by 5.1% in Q1 compared to Q4, Final Domestic Demand decreased by 9.9% in Q1 compared with Q4 while Modified Domestic Demand fell by 2.9% over the same period.
| GDP | Net Factor Income from Rest of World | GNP | |
| Q1 2018 | 79.594004062 | -17.22752709 | 62.366476969 |
| Q2 2018 | 82.139727397 | -16.30904683 | 65.830680571 |
| Q3 2018 | 82.139281147 | -17.07626826 | 65.063012884 |
| Q4 2018 | 83.997924825 | -20.09195735 | 63.905967476 |
| Q1 2019 | 82.94236962 | -19.62738301 | 63.314986609 |
| Q2 2019 | 87.116809717 | -20.77480631 | 66.342003408 |
| Q3 2019 | 86.755665161 | -20.19405557 | 66.561609589 |
| Q4 2019 | 90.441029472 | -19.58240244 | 70.85862703 |
| Q1 2020 | 86.367405027 | -19.70784065 | 66.659564379 |
| Q2 2020 | 84.777676656 | -19.95042703 | 64.827249626 |
| Q3 2020 | 94.52884539 | -30.43438185 | 64.094463544 |
| Q4 2020 | 90.331168079 | -20.24834768 | 70.082820396 |
| Q1 2021 | 97.389235716 | -28.01030679 | 69.378928921 |
Factor income outflows were €7,762m higher than in the previous quarter leading to an overall decrease in GNP of 1.0% for the first quarter compared with the previous quarter.
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The calculation methods for quarterly accounts are similar to those used in the annual National Income and Expenditure. As some of the available sources are of lesser reliability than those used for the annual national accounts, the quarterly estimates are subject to a greater margin of error than the annual figures. These preliminary estimates will therefore be revised when the next detailed annual results are published. |
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