Multinationals’ role in economy defined

THE economy contracted by 2.6% in the first quarter of 2017 but continues to grow at a reassuring 6.1% in annual terms, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics

Growth in the last quarter of 2016 has been revised up to 5.8%, but growth for the whole year was cut to 5.1% from 5.2%.

While other indicators — retail sales and business surveys — detail a continuing recovery in the first quarter, multinationals continue to have a disproportionate impact and gross domestic product (GDP) figures are distorted. To counter this, to get a more accurate picture, the CSO has developed a modified measure of the size of the economy — gross national income (GNI) — which removes much of the spectacular volatility in the national accounts associated with multinationals.