Global demand remains key to our recovery

Expectations that the economy would pick up momentum over the course of this year as the global economy strengthened were confirmed last week by data released by the CSO.

The latest National Accounts data showed that Irish GDP rose by 0.4% in the second quarter, bringing an end to three consecutive quarters of declining output. Exports had weakened a lot in previous quarters, depressing GDP.

However, exports rebounded in the second quarter as the global economy picked up and output recovered in the important Irish pharmaceutical sector. Both goods and services exports posted strong increases, with total exports rising by 4.3% in the quarter. This more than reversed a drop of 3.5% in exports in the opening quarter of the year.