This chapter outlines key statistics for the Irish business economy. Business Demography data was used to analyse the number of enterprises and employment across five sectors: Industry, Construction, Distribution, Services and Financial & Insurance. This data was combined with the Structural Business surveys, which are run annually by CSO.
| Table 13.1 Overview of the Business Economy, 2016 | |||
| Enterprises | Turnover | Persons engaged | |
| Industry | 17,555 | €227bn | 235,352 |
| Construction | 51,568 | €19bn | 120,341 |
| Distribution | 46,595 | €183bn | 356,057 |
| Services | 146,486 | €215bn | 732,675 |
| Financial & Insurance | 6,557 | €57bn | 99,502 |
| Total Business Economy | 268,761 | €702bn | 1,543,927 |
| Source: CSO | |||
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
In 2016, the business economy in Ireland was worth €702 billion and employed 1,543,927 persons in 268,761 enterprises.
The Services sector, which includes communications companies and accommodation, had the largest number of enterprises 146,486.
The Construction and Distribution sectors reported 51,568 and 46,595 enterprises respectively. Industry had 17,555 enterprises while the smallest number of enterprises 6,557, was in the Financial & Insurance field.
| For long labels below use to display on multiple lines | Number of enterprises |
|---|---|
| Industry | 17555 |
| Construction | 51568 |
| Distribution | 46595 |
| Services | 146486 |
| Financial and Insurance | 6557 |
| Industry | Construction | Distribution | Services | Financial and Insurance | |
| Turnover by sector- 2016 | 227.2 | 19.4 | 183.4 | 215 | 56.7 |
The Industrial sector generated the most turnover and contributed €227 billion to the economy.
The Services sector had a turnover of €215 billion; this was followed by the Distribution sector, which includes wholesale and retail businesses, with turnover of €183 billion.
The Financial & Insurance sector generated €57 billion turnover and the smallest sector in the business economy in Ireland in 2016 was Construction with turnover of €19 billion.
| Industry | Construction | Distribution | Services | Financial and Insurance | |
| Persons engaged | 235352 | 120341 | 356057 | 732675 | 99502 |
The Services sector dominated employment figures with 732,675 persons employed.
Distribution enterprises provided employment for 356,057 persons.
The Industrial sector which includes manufacturing had 235,352 persons engaged.
The business sectors with the lowest number of persons employed in 2016 were Construction with 120,341 and the Financial & Insurance sector, which includes banking, with 99,502 persons employed.
| SMEs (<250) | Large (250+) | |
| Industry | 113343 | 686949 |
| Construction | 55123 | 97622 |
| Distribution | 65650 | 53969 |
| Services | 76610 | 140905 |
| 0 | 0 | |
| All Sectors | 75850 | 270188 |
Gross Value Added (GVA) per person engaged across all sectors averaged €270,188 for Large enterprises and €75,850 for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Large Industrial enterprises reported the highest GVA per person engaged at €686,949 for 2016.
The lowest GVA per person engaged was in Distribution enterprises with 250 or more employees, at €53,969.
| For long labels below use to display on multiple lines | GVA |
|---|---|
| Micro (<10) | 18.6 |
| Small (10-49) | 12.2 |
| Medium (50-249) | 10.6 |
| Large (250+) | 58.6 |
Large enterprises which employ 250 or more persons generated nearly 59% of all GVA.
Small and Medium enterprises combined accounted for a further 23% of GVA, while the remaining 19% was generated by Micro enterprises that employ less than 10 persons.
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
| Table 13.2 Contribution of 50 largest enterprises by GVA and employment within sector, 2016 | ||||||
| €m | ||||||
| Industry | Construction | Distribution | Services1 | Total Business Economy1 | ||
| Business Economy | ||||||
| Turnover | 227,154 | 19,428 | 183,434 | 214,959 | 644,975 | |
| Gross value added | 91,740 | 6,922 | 22,226 | 68,484 | 189,372 | |
| Gross operating surplus | 79,402 | 2,406 | 9,476 | 39,312 | 130,596 | |
| Persons engaged | 235,352 | 120,341 | 356,057 | 732,675 | 1,444,425 | |
| Contribution of Top 50 Enterprises by GVA | ||||||
| Turnover | 70.1% | 19.0% | 30.0% | 42.2% | 35.2% | |
| Gross value added | 84.7% | 17.8% | 34.0% | 37.4% | 51.1% | |
| Gross operating surplus | 93.1% | 30.7% | 55.5% | 52.2% | 69.2% | |
| Persons engaged | 21.1% | 7.9% | 17.6% | 10.6% | 6.9% | |
| Contribution of Top 50 Enterprises by employment | ||||||
| Turnover | 61.4% | 15.4% | 12.5% | 20.4% | 23.5% | |
| Gross value added | 73.9% | 14.4% | 20.4% | 15.6% | 33.0% | |
| Gross operating surplus | 80.0% | 17.3% | 19.1% | 13.4% | 41.7% | |
| Persons engaged | 27.5% | 9.9% | 23.4% | 14.1% | 11.0% | |
| 1Excludes Financial & Insurance activities (NACE Rev.2 Section K) and includes Services sectors of R92, R93, S95, S96. | ||||||
| Source: CSO | ||||||
| Top 50 by employment | Top 50 by GVA | |
| Gross operating surplus | 41.7 | 69.2 |
| GVA | 33 | 51.1 |
| Turnover | 23.5 | 35.2 |
The Top 50 enterprises by GVA in Ireland accounted for 35% of all turnover but just under 7% of persons engaged. The Top 50 enterprises by employment accounted for 23.5% of total turnover and 11% of persons engaged.
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
| Table 13.3 Breakdown of personnel costs in the total business economy1 by size class, 2016 | ||||
| SMEs(<250) | Large (250+) | Total | ||
| Personnel costs | € m | 38,427 | 20,348 | 58,776 |
| Wages & salaries | € m | 34,513 | 17,644 | 52,156 |
| Social security costs | € m | 3,915 | 2,705 | 6,620 |
| Social security costs as a % of personnel costs | % | 10.2 | 13.3 | 11.3 |
| Wages and salaries per employee | €uro | 43,542 | 40,218 | 37,225 |
| 1The total business economy includes NACE Rev.2 Sections B to N (excluding K) and R92, R93, S95 and S96. | ||||
| Source: CSO | ||||
The business economy in Ireland generated €52 billion in wages and salaries and a further €6.6 billion in social security contributions.
The average spend on wages & salaries per employee was €43,542 in Small & Medium enterprises.
In Large enterprises, which employ 250 or more persons, the average spend on wages & salaries per employee was €40,218.
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
| Table 13.4 Number of persons engaged in SMEs by sector, 2010 to 2016 | ||||||
| Year | Construction | Services | Distribution | Industry | Financial | Total |
| 2010 | 99,911 | 397,493 | 242,300 | 115,052 | 29,074 | 883,830 |
| 2011 | 90,793 | 399,816 | 241,205 | 113,755 | 30,359 | 875,928 |
| 2012 | 85,667 | 408,920 | 238,959 | 110,628 | 30,244 | 874,418 |
| 2013 | 86,494 | 419,112 | 239,689 | 109,688 | 30,653 | 885,636 |
| 2014 | 92,289 | 438,666 | 243,303 | 114,642 | 31,084 | 919,984 |
| 2015 | 102,690 | 463,991 | 251,059 | 118,376 | 32,765 | 968,881 |
| 2016 | 113,558 | 484,187 | 257,718 | 121,921 | 33,621 | 1,011,005 |
| Source: CSO | ||||||
| SMEs (<250) | Large (250+) | |
| Active enterprises | 99.8 | 0.2 |
| Persons engaged | 68.4 | 31.6 |
| Turnover | 50.2 | 49.8 |
| GVA | 41.4 | 58.6 |
SMEs accounted for 99.8% of all enterprises and 68% of persons engaged.
They also generated over 50% of all turnover and 41% of GVA.
The number of persons engaged by SMEs increased by 14% between 2010 and 2016. All sectors showed increases between 2010 and 2016, with the Services sector at 22% and the Financial sector at 16% showing the largest increases.
The Industrial sector recorded the lowest increase of 6% for the same period.
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
| Persons Engaged | Active Enterprises | |
| Mining & quarrying | 4058 | 413 |
| Manufacturing | 213117 | 15583 |
| Electricity, gas etc | 9206 | 551 |
| Water supply etc | 8971 | 1008 |
| Construction | 120341 | 51568 |
| Motor trade | 35801 | 8827 |
| Wholesale trade | 100543 | 13608 |
| Retail trade | 219713 | 24160 |
| Transportation and storage | 97662 | 24614 |
| Accommodation and food | 179827 | 18377 |
| Information and communication | 95220 | 14570 |
| Financial and Insurance | 99502 | 6557 |
| Real estate | 25744 | 13249 |
| Professional, scientific etc | 135887 | 40452 |
| Administrative and support | 132644 | 16495 |
Retail trade accounted for the largest number of persons engaged at 219,713.
Mining and quarrying accounted for the least amount of persons engaged at 4,058.
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
| Table 13.5 Structural business statistics by sector and nationality of ownership, 2016 | |||||
| Irish-owned | Foreign-owned affiliates | All enterprises | |||
| Owned by EU multinationals | Owned by non-EU multinationals | Total | |||
| Number of enterprises | |||||
| Industry1 | 17,058 | 286 | 211 | 497 | 17,555 |
| Construction | 51,461 | 84 | 23 | 107 | 51,568 |
| Distribution | 45,785 | 522 | 288 | 810 | 46,595 |
| Services (excl. Financials) | 145,062 | 810 | 614 | 1,424 | 146,486 |
| All sectors | 259,366 | 1,702 | 1,136 | 2,838 | 262,204 |
| Number of persons engaged | |||||
| Industry1 | 151,063 | 29,676 | 54,613 | 84,289 | 235,352 |
| Construction | 116,635 | 3,555 | 151 | 3,706 | 120,341 |
| Distribution | 272,847 | 57,914 | 25,296 | 83,210 | 356,057 |
| Services (excl. Financials) | 610,733 | 60,796 | 61,146 | 121,942 | 732,675 |
| All sectors | 1,151,278 | 151,941 | 141,206 | 293,147 | 1,444,425 |
| Turnover (€millions) | |||||
| Industry1 | 40,835 | 30,690 | 155,628 | 186,319 | 227,154 |
| Construction | 18,049 | 1,341 | 38 | 1,379 | 19,428 |
| Distribution | 128,772 | 26,715 | 27,947 | 54,662 | 183,434 |
| Services (excl. Financials) | 112,368 | 24,527 | 78,064 | 102,591 | 214,959 |
| All sectors | 300,024 | 83,273 | 261,677 | 344,950 | 644,975 |
| GVA (€millions) | |||||
| Industry1 | 13,525 | 13,590 | 64,625 | 78,215 | 91,740 |
| Construction | 6,486 | 422 | 14 | 436 | 6,922 |
| Distribution | 14,813 | 3,889 | 3,525 | 7,413 | 22,226 |
| Services (excl. Financials) | 43,199 | 7,390 | 17,895 | 25,285 | 68,484 |
| All sectors | 78,023 | 25,291 | 86,059 | 111,349 | 189,372 |
| 1 Industry covers NACE Rev.2 (05-39) of which Manufacturing (10-33), Construction (41-43), Distribution (45-47) and Services covers NACE Rev. 2 H to N (excluding K) and R92, R93, S95, S96. | |||||
| Source: CSO | |||||
Figure 13.9 Irish MNEs abroad and foreign MNEs in Ireland, 2016
Foreign multinationals in Ireland employed just over 293,000 persons and generated €345 billion in turnover.
Foreign-owned enterprises accounted for 53.5% of total turnover and 58.8% of total GVA in the Irish business economy
Services which includes Distribution accounted for 84% of employment in Irish-owned affiliates abroad.
The average turnover per person engaged in Irish-owned foreign affiliates was €224.9k.
Turnover per person engaged in Irish-owned foreign affiliates was lowest in Services.
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
Figure 13.10 Employment in Irish affilates abroad 2016
In 2016, Irish multinationals abroad had turnover in excess of €192 billion, with US and UK affiliates accounting for 58% of this. There were over 856,000 persons employed in Irish multinationals abroad, 36% of whom were in the US and the UK.
In terms of employment by continent, Europe, Asia and the Americas each accounted for approximately a third of the total, with employment in the remaining regions amounting to 2.5%.
Interactive tables: Statbank link
| Services (ex. Finance) | Distribution | Construction | Manufacturing | |
| Ireland | 34.4 | 11 | 3.3 | 51.3 |
| Germany | 38.8 | 19.2 | 6.3 | 35.7 |
| Italy | 38.4 | 20 | 7.6 | 33.9896608674577 |
| Spain | 44.7 | 23.4 | 8.1 | 23.9 |
| France | 46.9 | 19.8 | 9.5 | 23.9 |
| United Kingdom | 55.4 | 18.5 | 9.4 | 16.7 |
The Manufacturing sector accounted for 51.3% of total GVA in Ireland in 2015.
The United Kingdom recorded the lowest percentage of total GVA for the Manufacturing sector at 16.7%.
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
Go to next chapter >>> Gender Balance In Business
