Gross domestic product sees slight rebound during second quarter

GDP estimated to have increased by 3.9% between April and June when compared to the first quarter of the year, driven mainly by an increase in multinational-dominated information and communication technology sector

While GDP has increased quarter-on-quarter, it is still down by 1.6% compared to the same period last year.

Early gross domestic product (GDP) estimates from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) suggested a slight rebound during the second quarter of the year after suffering a major contraction between January and March.

According to the CSO, GDP is estimated to have increased by 3.9% between April and June when compared to the first quarter of the year. The increase was driven mainly by an increase in the multinational-dominated information and communication technology sector.

While GDP has increased quarter-on-quarter, it is still down by 1.6% compared to the same period last year.

The CSO said these preliminary estimates were based on forecasting and “data sources that are limited in scope when compared with those used for compiling GDP in the CSO’s Quarterly National Accounts”.

The full Quarterly National Accounts for the second quarter are expected to be published in early September, where the CSO will also publish additional data.

Earlier this month, the CSO published its final results from the first quarter of 2026, which showed GDP contracted by 7% compared to the previous quarter. When compared to the same quarter last year, it was down 13%.

The contraction was largely attributed to a fall-off in the pharmaceutical-heavy industry sector. In advance of tariffs being imposed in April last year, numerous pharmaceutical firms frontloaded their exports from Ireland to the US, which led to a surge in the export figures and GDP levels which is now unwinding.

Ireland’s GDP can be very volatile as it is heavily influenced by the number of multinational corporations with operations here. As a result, other measures, such as modified gross national income (GNI*) or modified domestic demand (MDD), are preferred measures of Ireland’s economy.

The CSO did not publish preliminary estimates of MDD or GNI*, but during the first three months of this year, MDD grew marginally by 0.3%.