Ireland’s GDP growth fastest in EU

Ireland’s economic growth rate surged to a post-crisis high of 4.8% last year, the fastest rate in the EU, as data confirmed a stunning recovery from the devastating 2008 property crash.

After two years of near stagnation, higher exports and consumer spending lifted 2014 gross domestic product growth to almost four times the average 1.3% rate posted across the EU after most countries had published data.

It is the country’s highest growth rate since 2007, the final year of the Celtic Tiger boom, when the economy grew by 4.9%.