Oliver Mangan: Irish economy continues strong growth despite GDP hiccup

The recent data highlight yet again that GDP is not a reliable measure of economic activity and it is important to take a wide range of indicators into consideration

Contract manufacturing has become a large part of the operations of some multinational companies based in Ireland.

The scale of Irish contract manufacturing, whereby a company based in Ireland engages a firm abroad to manufacture products on its behalf, has grown enormously since 2015. 

The production process is still recorded in the Irish National Accounts as part of imports, exports and GDP, even though none of the activity occurs in Ireland. Contract manufacturing has become a large part of the operations of some multinational companies based in Ireland.