Ireland still favoured for foreign investment

Ireland remains one of the most successful EU states at attracting foreign investment, with direct inward investment flows representing 6% of GDP in 2004, according to a major new report from the Central Statistics Office.

The rate of investment was more than five times the corresponding Eurozone 12 figure of 1.1% of GDP. However, the 2004 figure was substantially lower than the 14.5% recorded for Ireland in 2003.

In 2004, Ireland had the second highest GDP per capita, expressed in terms of purchasing power standards within the EU. However, based on GNI, Ireland falls back to eighth place at around 16% above the EU average.

The public balance in Ireland was significantly in surplus during the late 1990s. However, over the period 2000-2002 it decreased from a surplus of 4.4% of GDP to a deficit of 0.4% of GDP. In 2003 Ireland again showed a small surplus of 0.2% of GDP, which increased to 1.4% in 2004.