Ireland: Economy

The World Factbook 1993: Ireland Economy

Overview: The economy is small and trade dependent. Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry, which accounts for 37% of GDP, about 80% of exports, and employs 28% of the labor force. Since 1987, real GDP growth, led by exports, has averaged 4% annually. Over the same period, inflation has fallen sharply and chronic trade deficits have been transformed into annual surpluses. Unemployment, at 22.7% remains a serious problem, however, and job creation is the main focus of government policy. To ease unemployment, Dublin aggressively courts foreign investors and recently created a new industrial development agency to aid small indigenous firms. Government assistance is constrained by Dublin's continuing deficit reduction measures. After five years of fiscal restraint, total government debt still exceeds GDP. Growth probably will moderate in 1993 as the heavily indebted and trade-dependent economy is highly sensitive to changes in exchange rates and world interest rates. Exports to the UK, Ireland's major export market, probably will be hurt by the recent appreciation of the Irish currency against sterling - for the first time since 1979 the value of the Irish pound exceeds that of its British counterpart.

National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $42.4 billion (1992)

National product real growth rate: 2% (1992)

National product per capita: $12,000 (1992)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.5% (1992)

Unemployment rate: 22.7% (1992)

Budget: revenues $16.0 billion; expenditures $16.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.6 billion (1992 est.)

Exports: $28.3 billion (f.o.b., 1992) commodities: chemicals, data processing equipment, industrial machinery, live animals, animal products partners: EC 75% (UK 32%, Germany 13%, France 10%), US 9% Imports: $23.3 billion (c.i.f., 1992) commodities: food, animal feed, data processing equipment, petroleum and petroleum products, machinery, textiles, clothing partners: EC 66% (UK 41%, Germany 8%, Netherlands 4%), US 15%

External debt: $15 billion (1990)

Industrial production: growth rate 8.0% (1992 est.); accounts for 37% of GDP

Electricity: 5,000,000 kW capacity; 14,500 million kWh produced, 4,120 kWh per capita (1992)

Industries: food products, brewing, textiles, clothing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machinery, transportation equipment, glass and crystal

Agriculture: accounts for 11% of GDP and 13% of the labor force; principal crops - turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat; livestock - meat and dairy products; 85% self-sufficient in food; food shortages include bread grain, fruits, vegetables

Economic aid: donor - ODA commitments (1980-89), $90 million

Currency: 1 Irish pound (#Ir)=100 pence

Exchange rates: Irish pounds (#Ir) per US$1 - 0.6118 (January 1993), 0.5864 (1992), 0.6190 (1991), 0.6030 (1990), 0.7472 (1989), 0.6553 (1988)

Fiscal year: calendar year