Ireland’s volatile GDP data masked solid domestic growth

Other indicators such as employment, consumer spending, and exchequer tax revenues provided a more reliable picture of the economy last year

Development continues at the Apple Computer campus in Hollyhill, Cork; Ireland’s tech sector grew 8% last year. Picture Dan Linehan

Ireland’s latest national accounts data for Q4 2023 reveal a sharp fall in growth in 2023, with GDP declining by 3.2% in 2023, revised down from a provisional estimate of a 1.9% decline.

At face value, this out-turn is the sharpest decline in the Irish economy since the global financial crisis.