Economy - overview The economy is small and trade dependent. Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry, which accounts for 38% of GDP, about 80% of exports, and employs 27% of the labor force. Although exports remain the primary engine for Ireland's robust growth, the economy is also benefiting from a rise in consumer spending and recovery in both construction and business investment. Since the 1980s, inflation has fallen sharply and chronic trade deficits have been transformed into annual surpluses. Unemployment 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.

GDP purchasing power parity - $59.9 billion (1997 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 6% (1997 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $18,600 (1997 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 8.5%
industry: 38.3%
services: 53.2% (1995)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 1.6% (1997)

Labor force
total: 1.52 million (1997 est.)
by occupation: services 62.1%, manufacturing and construction 27.0%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 10.0%, utilities 0.9% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate 11.8% (1997)

Budget
revenues: $20.6 billion
expenditures: $20.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.2 billion (1997)

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

Industrial production growth rate 10.1% (1997 est.)

Electricity - capacity 3.62 million kW (1995)

Electricity - production 16.586 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita 4,672 kWh (1995)

Agriculture - products turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat; meat and dairy products

Exports
total value: $54.8 billion (f.o.b., 1997)
commodities: chemicals, data processing equipment, industrial machinery, live animals, animal products
partners: EU 66% (UK 22%, Germany 13%, France 8%), US 6%

Imports
total value: $44.9 billion (c.i.f., 1997)
commodities: food, animal feed, data processing equipment, petroleum and petroleum products, machinery, textiles, clothing
partners: EU 52% (UK 29%, Germany 10.2%, France 4%), US 12%

Debt - external $14 billion (1996)

Economic aid
donor: ODA, $81 million (1993)

Currency 1 Irish pound (£Ir) = 100 pence

Exchange rates Irish pounds (£Ir) per US$1 - 0.7233 (January 1997), 0.6588 (1997), 0.6248 (1996), 0.6235 (1995), 0.6676 (1994), 0.6816 (1993)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Ireland on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Ireland Economy 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Ireland Economy 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.