SDG 9.2.1 Manufacturing value added as a proportion of GDP and per capita, information is provided from data published by the CSO, National Accounts Division.
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Data on Ireland’s economy are published in the CSO’s National Income and Expenditure Annual Results. The Annual National Accounts 2024 publication shows Gross Value Added (GVA) by economic activity (NACE Rev.2 classification system) at current and constant basic prices.
Manufacturing Gross Value Added (MGVA) at current basic prices in 2024 was €166.4 billion, up from €156.4 the previous year. An annual decrease was recorded for MGVA at constant basic prices, down from €156.4 billion in 2023 to €154.8 billion in 2024.
More detailed information are in the following tables:
GVA for manufacturing at Current Basic Prices is in Table NA005
GVA for manufacturing at Constant Basic Prices is in Table NA006
MGVA per capita is calculated by dividing MGVA in constant prices by the population. Population data can be accessed in Table PEA01
SDG 9.2.2 Manufacturing employment as a proportion of total employment; information on employment is published in the CSO, Labour Force Survey.
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CSO’s Labour Force Survey Quarter 1 2026 provides details on employment.
The economic sectors that saw the largest year-on-year increases in employment in Q1 2026 were:
Breaking these increases down to NACE division (2-digit level), the year-on-year increase seen in Construction (F) was primarily driven by increases in 'division 43 - Specialised construction activities' (+12,700) and 'division 42 - Civil Engineering' (+5,400). See Table QES26
Manufacturing employment in more detailed manufacturing sectors (e.g. 'Manufacture of Food Products (C10)', 'Manufacture of Beverages (C11)', etc.) are also provided in Table QES26.
Manufacturing is included in the Industry sector (NACE Rev 2.1 economic sector (B-E)). Employment in Industry (B-E) was 12.5% of all employment in Q1 2026. Industry employment increased from 332,600 persons to 350,100 persons, an increase of 5.3%, between Q1 2025 and Q1 2026. See Table QLF55
SDG 9.3.1 Proportion of small-scale industries in total industry value added; general information is provided by the CSO.
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The CSO’s Business in Ireland Series provides comprehensive insight and information to aid users in understanding the detailed structure, economic activity, and performance of businesses in Ireland.
The CSO would welcome feedback from users on this new initiative, which we will continue to review and develop. Please contact enterprise_stats@cso.ie.
Table AIA27 provides data for Industrial enterprises (NACE Rev.2), by size of enterprise, and the Gross value Added (GVA) at basic prices and GVA at factor cost. Enterprise size categories include the following number of employees: 0-9 employees; 10-49 employees; 50-249 employees; and 250 or more employees.
In 2022, Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices was €4.8 billion for industrial small enterprises with less than 10 persons engaged. GVA at basic prices was €1.9 billion for industrial enterprises with 10 to 49 persons engaged. See Table AIA27.
SDG 9.3.2 Proportion of small-scale industries with a loan or line of credit, is based on information published by the Department of Finance.
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The Department of Finance biannual small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) Credit Demand Survey monitors the credit demand and financing needs of SMEs.
This information is used to inform the development of government policy to ensure that SMEs have sufficient access to appropriate finance.
The SME Credit Demand Survey – 2024 report provides detailed results and information.
Current Demand for Credit: 20% of SMEs applied for bank finance within the 12 months covering the year 2024. This is a two percentage point increase since 2023, and is at the highest level seen since 2019, when it also stood at 20%. Medium sized SMEs have seen the greatest uplift in seeking finance compared to last year (up four percentage points). Historically, medium and small SMEs tend to seek bank finance more than micro businesses.
Credit demand during the year 2024 was higher among smaller-sized companies where 24% applied for bank finance. 21% of medium-sized companies applied for finance during 2024, up from 17% in 2023, while 16% of micro companies applied for finance. See Table 5.1.
SDG 9.4.1 CO2 emission per unit of value added, information is provided by the CSO's Environment Division.
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The CSO release Economic Trends in High-emitting Sectors 2023 combines a selection of these data to show the progress that is being made on reducing greenhouse gas emissions towards the 2030 Climate Action Plan targets. Ireland's greenhouse gas emission targets and sectoral budgets are based on 2018 emissions, measured on a territorial basis. This release focuses on the six sectors with the highest territorial greenhouse gas emissions and examines economic and emissions trends in those sectors.
Information in the CSO release shows the share of territorial greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 by sector, for the highest emitting sectors. The sectoral breakdown of greenhouse gas emissions throughout this release assigns emissions from road transport to the economic (NACE) sector of the vehicle operator, and emissions from fossil fuels used to generate electricity to the final user of the electricity. Emissions from international aviation and water transport are not included. Road transport emissions from non-residents were not assigned to a NACE sector to maintain consistency with National Accounts data on gross value added and employment, while road transport emissions by Irish residents abroad were not included as they do not feature in Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions targets or sectoral ceilings.
Agriculture had the highest percentage share of emissions in 2023 at 38.1%. Households (as consumers) had the next highest share at 24%, followed by Manufacture of Cement & Other Non-Metallic Minerals (6.1%), Land Transport (3.4%), Information & Communication (3.3%) and Manufacture of Food, Beverages & Tobacco (2.8%). Together these six sectors accounted for 78% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023.
Of the six highest emitting sectors, the five NACE sectors (i.e. excluding households) accounted for 54% of emissions, 15% of employment, and 24% of GVA.
Agriculture accounted for 1% of GVA and 4% of employment in 2023. The output of agriculture is an important input for other NACE sector activities, in particular for the manufacture of food and beverages, and therefore contributes indirectly to output in these sectors. Between 2011 and 2023, GVA in the Agriculture sector almost doubled, while emissions rose by 11%.
Manufacture of Cement & Other Non-Metallic Minerals accounted for between 4% and 6% of emissions in each year between 2011 and 2023. Greenhouse gas emissions from this sector rose from 2.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2011 to 3.3 million in 2023, a 52% increase. Over the same time period, GVA rose by 53% and employment by 30%. In terms of interactions with other sectors, 58% of Cement & Other Non-Metallic Mineral products were used as inputs by the construction industry in 2021.
Land Transport greenhouse gas emissions fell by 30% between 2011 and 2023, while GVA at constant prices rose by 23%. Not included in this sector are emissions from the use of private cars by households and from the use of road vehicles by NACE sectors other than the road freight and passenger transport sector.
The Information & Communication sector made up 3% of emissions, 20% of GVA, and 6.5% of employment in 2023, with 97% of emissions in this sector coming from electricity consumption.
The Manufacture of Food, Beverages & Tobacco sector accounted for around 3% of emissions in each year between 2011 and 2023. In 2023, greenhouse gas emissions were 9% higher than in 2011, while GVA was 66% higher and employment was up 13%.
In the CSO release Economic Trends in High-emitting Sectors 2023, (Section Aggregated Sector Shares of Emissions and Economic Indicators 2023), the data in Figure 1.3 and Table 1.3 show shares of territorial greenhouse gas emissions, employment numbers, gross value added, and environmental taxes and subsidies for the sectors: the highest emitting sectors were Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing sector (38%), Households (24%), and Industry (20%).
More detailed breakdowns by highest emitting sectors in 2023 are provided in the CSO release Economic Trends in High-emitting Sectors 2023.
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