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Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 1.2% in 2024.
Modified Domestic Demand (MDD), a broad measure of underlying domestic activity that covers personal, government, and investment spending, grew by 2.7% in 2024.
GDP increased by 3.6% in Quarter 4 (Q4) 2024, seasonally adjusted and compared with the previous quarter.
Personal spending on goods and services, a key measure of domestic economic activity, grew by 1.6% in Q4 2024 and was up 2.3% in the year.
Compensation of Employees fell by 0.5% in the quarter and was up 2.9% in 2024.
The updated estimated GDP figure for Q4 2024 is +3.6%. This compares with a Preliminary GDP Estimate for Q4 2024 of -1.3% published on 28 January 2025. The reason for the revision is that the updated GDP estimate for Q4 2024 of +3.6% 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 2024 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 2024 later in the year.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (06 March 2024) published Quarterly National Accounts and International Accounts results for Quarter 4 (Q4) 2024, following on from the Preliminary GDP Estimates for Q4 2024 issued on 28 January 2024 as a CSO Frontier Series output (See Editor’s Note below).
Assistant Director General with responsibility for Economic Statistics, Chris Sibley, said:
“The latest estimate of the Quarterly National Accounts indicates there was continued growth in the domestic economy in 2024 with Modified Domestic Demand (MDD) growing by 2.7% in the year. This was reflected in personal spending increasing by of 2.3% in the year and growth in wages of 2.9%.
Overall, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is influenced by the globalised sectors of the economy, grew by 1.2% in 2024 with the Information & Communication sector increasing 8.4% in the period while the industry sector decreased by 5.1%.
In Q4 2024, GDP rose by 3.6 % on the previous quarter, driven by the globalised sectors of the economy.”
Domestic Economy
Looking at the results in more detail, National Accounts Statistician Gordon Cavanagh said:
“The sectors focused on the domestic market posted a combined increase in activity of 2.1% in 2024. There was a mixed picture for sectors focused on the domestic market with economic activity in the Professional & Administrative sector growing by 5.6% in the year, the Public Administration, Education & Health sector increasing by 2.9%, and Finance & Insurance contracting by 8.5%.
Globalised Sector
The globalised sectors of the economy contracted modestly by 0.9% in 2024, the second successive year of multi-national enterprises (MNE) contraction though a significantly smaller decline than the 16.2% that took place in 2023. Overall, the multinational sectors accounted for 45.9% of total value added in the economy in 2024.
Expenditure in the Economy
Looking at expenditure in the economy, personal spending on goods and services (the PCE indicator) increased by 2.3% in 2024, while Government spending on goods and services rose by 4.3% in the year. It accounted for 29.0% of GDP in 2024, up from the 28.7% of GDP recorded in 2023.
Impact of Globalisation Activities
Compared with 2023, Capital Investment was down by 25.4% with investment in Intellectual Property Products (IPP) fell by 55.1% in 2024, driving a decrease of 7.7% in Final Domestic Demand (FDD) in the year. MDD, a broad measure of underlying domestic demand that excludes IPP and aircraft-related globalisation effects, increased by 2.7% in 2024.
Compensation of Employees
Compensation of Employees (CoE) increased in real terms by 2.9% in 2024 compared with 2023. Most sectors exhibited growth, and some of the largest increases were seen in Professional & Administrative services (5.8%), Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (5.2%), and Construction (3.0%).
GDP and GNP results
Overall, GDP is estimated to have grown by 1.2% in 2024, driven significantly by a rise of 11.7% in Exports in the year that outpaced the increase in Imports of 6.5%, coupled with an expansion in the Domestic Sectors of 2.1%. Gross National Product (GNP), a measure of economic activity that excludes the profits of multinationals, increased by 0.4% in 2024."