Personal spending on goods and services increased by 3.1% in the year and is now 10.2% higher than the pre-pandemic peak level of spending in 2019.
Modified Domestic Demand (MDD), a broad measure of underlying domestic activity that covers personal, government, and investment spending, rose by 0.5% in 2023.
Multinational dominated sectors contracted by 6.8% in 2023 with all other sectors growing by 3.8%.
Compensation of Employees increased by 3.3% in real terms in 2023 compared with 2022.
In quarter-on-quarter results, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 3.4% in Quarter 4 (Q4) 2023 compared with Q3 2023, while MDD decreased by 0.4% in the quarter.
The updated estimated GDP figure for Q4 2023 is -3.4%. This compares with a Preliminary GDP Estimate for Q4 2023 of -0.7% published on 26 January 2024. The reason for the revision is that the updated GDP estimate for Q4 2022 of -3.4% is based on both Expenditure and Output data, while the Preliminary estimate was based predominantly on economic Output data. Preliminary estimates are published under the CSO Frontier Series which may use new compilation processes which are under development and / or new or more timely data sources and therefore the results may be subject to revision over time. Publishing outputs under the Preliminary Estimate allows the CSO to provide useful new information to users and receive informed feedback on these new methods and outputs whilst at the same time making sure that the limitations are well explained and understood. A list of our CSO Frontier Outputs is available.
The full year 2023 figures published today are provisional and final figures for GDP and GNI, as well GNI*, will be published as part of the Annual National Accounts 2023 later in the year.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (01 March 2024) published Quarterly National Accounts and International Accounts results for Quarter 4 (Q4) 2023 and provisional results for the Year 2023, following on from the Preliminary GDP Estimates for Q4 2023 and Year 2023 issued on 26 January 2024 as a CSO Frontier Series output.
Assistant Director General with responsibility for Economic Statistics, Jennifer Banim, commented:
“The impact of ongoing global events and decelerating inflation varied across the sectors of the economy in 2023 and today’s results show the overall annual impact and the underlying quarterly variations. The more globalised sectors of the economy contracted for the first time since 2013 with Industry shrinking by 11.0%. The Information & Communication sector continued to grow however, increasing by 8.0% in 2023. Overall, the multinational sector contraction was 6.8% and in 2023, these sectors accounted for 51.5% of total value added in the economy.
There was a mixed picture for sectors focused on the domestic market with economic activity in the Financial & Insurance sector growing by 7.5% in the year, the Distribution, Transport, Hotels & Restaurants sector increasing by 4.5%, and Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing expanding by 15.4%.
Looking at expenditure in the economy, personal spending on goods and services (the PCE indicator) increased by 3.1% in 2023, while Government spending on goods and services rose by 1.7% in the year. Examining PCE at constant price levels over the past four years, personal spending reached €128.7 billion in 2023, a further recovery compared with the 2022 result of €124.8 billion, and 10.2% higher than the €116.8 billion pre-pandemic peak level of spending in 2019. PCE accounted for 28.0% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023, up from 26.3% of GDP recorded in both years 2022 and 2021.
Overall, GDP is estimated to have contracted by 3.2% in 2023, driven largely by a fall of 4.8% in Exports in the year. Gross National Product (GNP) - a measure of economic activity that excludes the profits of multinationals - increased by 4.4% in 2023."
Impact of Globalisation Activities in 2023
"Compared with 2022, investment in Intellectual Property Products (IPP) increased by 14.6% in 2023, driving an increase of 2.8% in Final Domestic Demand in the year. Modified Domestic Demand (MDD), a broad measure of underlying domestic demand that excludes IPP and aircraft-related globalisation effects, increased by 0.5% in 2023."