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 16.1 Overview of the Business Economy, 2017 | |||
| Enterprises | Turnover | Persons engaged | |
| Industry | 18,817 | €238,601bn | 242,966 |
| Construction | 57,255 | €24,869bn | 137,239 |
| Distribution | 48,598 | €186,677bn | 367,405 |
| Services | 158,574 | €217,552bn | 774,572 |
| Financial & Insurance | 8,121 | €61,801bn | 102,725 |
| Total Business Economy | 291,365 | €729,500bn | 1,624,907 |
| Source: CSO | |||
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
In 2017, the business economy in Ireland was worth €729.5 billion, employed 1,624,907 persons and had 291,365 enterprises.
The Services sector, which includes communications companies and accommodation, had the largest number of enterprises 158,574.
The Construction and Distribution sectors reported 57,255 and 48,598 enterprises respectively. Industry had 18,817 enterprises while the smallest number of enterprises 8,121 was in the Financial & Insurance field.
| For long labels below use to display on multiple lines | Number of enterprises |
|---|---|
| Industry | 18817 |
| Construction | 57255 |
| Distribution | 48598 |
| Services | 158574 |
| Financial and Insurance | 8121 |
| Industry | Construction | Distribution | Services | Financial and Insurance | |
| Turnover by sector- 2017 | 238.6 | 24.9 | 186.7 | 217.6 | 61.8 |
The Industrial sector generated the most turnover and contributed €238.6 billion to the economy.
The Services sector had a turnover of €217.6 billion; this was followed by the Distribution sector, which includes wholesale and retail businesses, with turnover of €186.7 billion.
The Financial & Insurance sector generated €61.8 billion turnover and the smallest sector in the business economy in Ireland in 2017 was Construction with turnover of €24.9 billion.
| Industry | Construction | Distribution | Services | Financial and Insurance | |
| Persons engaged | 242966 | 137239 | 367405 | 774572 | 102725 |
The Services sector dominated employment figures with 774,572 persons employed.
Distribution enterprises provided employment for 367,405 persons.
The Industrial sector which includes manufacturing had 242,966 persons engaged.
The business sectors with the lowest number of persons employed in 2017 were Construction with 137,239 and the Financial & Insurance sector, which includes banking, with 102,725 persons employed.
| SMEs (<250) | Large (250+) | |
| All Sectors | 74164 | 295665 |
| Industry | 113743 | 746411 |
| Construction | 65594 | 90726 |
| Distribution | 64824 | 50979 |
| Services | 71706 | 169390 |
Gross Value Added (GVA) per person engaged across all sectors averaged €295,665 for Large enterprises and €74,164 for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Large Industrial enterprises reported the highest GVA per person engaged at €746,411 for 2017.
The lowest GVA per person engaged was in Distribution enterprises with 250 or more employees, at €50,979.
| For long labels below use to display on multiple lines | GVA |
|---|---|
| Micro (<10) | 18 |
| Small (10-49) | 9.6 |
| Medium (50-249) | 11.1 |
| Large (250+) | 61.4 |
Large enterprises which employ 250 or more persons generated just over 61% of all GVA.
Small and Medium enterprises combined accounted for a further 20.7% of GVA, while the remaining 18.0% was generated by Micro enterprises that employ less than 10 persons.
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
| Table 16.2 Contribution of 50 largest enterprises by GVA and employment within sector, 2017 | |||||||
| Industry | Construction | Distribution | Services1 | Total Business Economy 1 | |||
| Business Economy | |||||||
| Turnover | €m | 238,601 | 24,869 | 186,677 | 217,552 | 667,699 | |
| Gross value added | €m | 101,892 | 9,227 | 22,394 | 75,607 | 209,120 | |
| Gross operating surplus | €m | 88,963 | 3,245 | 10,562 | 48,833 | 151,603 | |
| Persons engaged | No. | 242,966 | 137,239 | 367,405 | 774,572 | 1,522,182 | |
| Contribution of Top 50 Enterprises by GVA | |||||||
| Turnover | % | 73.0 | 20.7 | 29.7 | 47.7 | 38.6 | |
| Gross value added | % | 85.6 | 19.0 | 35.9 | 44.8 | 54.1 | |
| Gross operating surplus | % | 93.8 | 34.8 | 52.6 | 59.7 | 70.5 | |
| Persons engaged | % | 20.2 | 7.8 | 17.7 | 9.6 | 6.3 | |
| Contribution of Top 50 Enterprises by employment | |||||||
| Turnover | % | 59.8 | 14.3 | 11.5 | 28.3 | 23.6 | |
| Gross value added | % | 69.6 | 12.7 | 19.4 | 16.8 | 33.0 | |
| Gross operating surplus | % | 74.9 | 12.9 | 14.9 | 14.9 | 40.3 | |
| Persons engaged | % | 27.3 | 10.3 | 23.3 | 13.8 | 10.7 | |
| 1 Excludes Financial & Insurance activities (NACE Rev.2 Section K) and includes Services NACE divisions R92, R93, S95, S96. | |||||||
| Source: CSO | |||||||
| Top 50 by employment | Top 50 by GVA | |
| Gross Operating Surplus | 40.3 | 70.5 |
| GVA | 33 | 54.1 |
| Turnover | 23.6 | 38.6 |
The Top 50 enterprises by GVA in Ireland accounted for 38.6% of all turnover with 6.3% of persons engaged. The Top 50 enterprises by employment accounted for 23.6% of total turnover and 10.7% of persons engaged.
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
| Table 16.3 Breakdown of personnel costs in the total business economy1 by size class, 2017 | ||||
| SMEs(<250) | Large (250+) | Total | ||
| Personnel costs | €m | 36,522 | 20,995 | 57,517 |
| Wages & salaries | €m | 33,188 | 18,417 | 51,607 |
| Social security costs | €m | 3,333 | 2,579 | 5,910 |
| Social security costs as a % of personnel costs | % | 9.1 | 12.3 | 10.3 |
| Wages and salaries per employee | €uro | 30,512 | 42,392 | 33,903 |
| 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 €51.6 billion in wages and salaries and a further €5.9 billion in social security contributions.
The average spend on wages & salaries per employee was €30,512 in Small & Medium enterprises.
In Large enterprises, which employ 250 or more persons, the average spend on wages & salaries per employee was €42,392.
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
| Table 16.4 Number of persons engaged in SMEs by sector, 2011 to 2017 | ||||||
| Year | Construction | Services | Distribution | Industry | Financial | Total |
| 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 |
| 2017 | 128,303 | 509,914 | 264,684 | 125,596 | 35,116 | 1,063,613 |
| Source: CSO | ||||||
| SMEs (<250) | Large (250+) | |
| Active enterprises | 99.8 | 0.2 |
| Persons engaged | 68.4 | 31.6 |
| Turnover | 50.2 | 49.8 |
| GVA | 38.6 | 61.4 |
SMEs accounted for 99.8% of all enterprises and 68.4% of persons engaged.
They also generated over 50.2% of all turnover and 38.6% of GVA.
The number of persons engaged by SMEs increased by 21.4% between 2011 and 2017. All sectors showed increases between 2011 and 2017, with the Construction sector at 41.3% and the Services sector at 27.5% showing the largest increases.
The Distribution sector recorded the lowest increase of 9.7% for the same period.
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
| Persons Engaged | Active Enterprises | |
| Mining & quarrying | 4155 | 451 |
| Manufacturing | 219762 | 16701 |
| Electricity, gas etc | 9588 | 637 |
| Water supply etc | 9461 | 1028 |
| Construction | 137239 | 57255 |
| Motor trade | 37289 | 9390 |
| Wholesale trade | 104823 | 14348 |
| Retail trade | 225293 | 24860 |
| Transportation and storage | 100629 | 25736 |
| Accommodation and food | 189186 | 19205 |
| Information and communication | 102027 | 15953 |
| Financial and insurance | 102725 | 8121 |
| Real estate | 28088 | 15178 |
| Profession, scientific etc | 145353 | 43587 |
| Administrative and support | 140181 | 18716 |
Retail trade accounted for the largest number of persons engaged at 225,293.
Mining and quarrying accounted for the least amount of persons engaged at 4,155.
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
| Table 16.5 Structural business statistics by sector and nationality of ownership, 2017 | |||||
| Irish-owned | Foreign-owned affiliates | All enterprises | |||
| Owned by EU multinationals | Owned by non-EU multinationals | Total | |||
| Number of enterprises | |||||
| Industry1 | 18,259 | 299 | 259 | 558 | 18,817 |
| Construction | 57,105 | 106 | 44 | 150 | 57,255 |
| Distribution | 47,706 | 564 | 328 | 892 | 48,598 |
| Services (excl. Financials) | 156,822 | 908 | 844 | 1,752 | 158,574 |
| All sectors | 279,892 | 1,877 | 1,475 | 3,352 | 283,244 |
| Number of persons engaged | |||||
| Industry1 | 144,276 | 31,268 | 67,422 | 98,690 | 242,966 |
| Construction | 133,414 | 2,598 | 1,227 | 3,825 | 137,239 |
| Distribution | 278,631 | 58,279 | 30,495 | 88,774 | 367,405 |
| Services (excl. Financials) | 640,238 | 59,448 | 74,886 | 134,334 | 774,572 |
| All sectors | 1,196,559 | 151,593 | 174,030 | 325,623 | 1,522,182 |
| Turnover (€millions) | |||||
| Industry1 | 45,700 | 15,677 | 177,223 | 192,900 | 238,601 |
| Construction | 23,962 | 609 | 298 | 907 | 24,869 |
| Distribution | 111,709 | 30,809 | 44,159 | 74,968 | 186,677 |
| Services (excl. Financials) | 100,062 | 16,129 | 101,361 | 117,490 | 217,552 |
| All sectors | 281,433 | 63,224 | 323,041 | 386,265 | 667,699 |
| GVA (€millions) | |||||
| Industry1 | 12,933 | 5,627 | 83,332 | 88,959 | 101,892 |
| Construction | 8,917 | 195 | 115 | 310 | 9,227 |
| Distribution | 13,588 | 4,372 | 4,435 | 8,807 | 22,394 |
| Services (excl. Financials) | 43,600 | 5,865 | 26,141 | 32,006 | 75,607 |
| All sectors | 79,038 | 16,059 | 114,023 | 130,082 | 209,120 |
| 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 includes NACE divisions R92, R93, S95, S96. | |||||
| Source: CSO | |||||
Figure 16.9 Irish MNEs abroad and foreign MNEs in Ireland, 2017
Foreign multinationals in Ireland employed 325,623 persons and generated €386.3 billion in turnover.
Foreign-owned enterprises accounted for 57.9% of total turnover and 62.2% of total GVA in the Irish business economy
Services which includes Distribution accounted for 79.7% of employment in Irish-owned affiliates abroad.
The average turnover per person engaged in Irish-owned foreign affiliates was €234.6k.
Turnover per person engaged in Irish-owned foreign affiliates was lowest in Services.
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
Figure 16.10 Employment in Irish affilates abroad 2017
In 2017, Irish multinationals abroad had turnover in excess of €228.4 billion, with US and UK affiliates accounting for 57.1% of this. There were nearly 974,000 persons employed in Irish multinationals abroad, 34.6% 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
| Services (ex. Finance) | Distribution | Construction | Manufacturing | |
| Ireland | 36.5 | 12.2 | 3.8 | 47.5 |
| Germany | 38.6 | 19.1 | 6.4 | 35.9 |
| Italy | 38.3 | 20.2 | 7.3 | 34.2 |
| Spain | 44.3 | 23.5 | 8.4 | 23.8 |
| France | 47 | 19.9 | 9.3 | 23.8 |
| United Kingdom | 56.1 | 18.5 | 9.1 | 16.4 |
The Manufacturing sector accounted for 47.5% of total GVA in Ireland in 2016.
The United Kingdom recorded the lowest percentage of total GVA for the Manufacturing sector at 16.4%.
Link to publication: Business in Ireland
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