Irish Economy 2018

irish economy

The Irish economy is showing good signs of continuing recovery.

In 2016 real GDP grew by 5.2%, well above the euro area average.  The  European Economic Forecast said that some of the impressive headline GDP figures are still heavily distorted by the activities
of large multinationals . However , domestic activity appears to have been strong, driven by growth in the labour market, consumption and construction investment.

The Irish Central Bank published it’s first quarterly bulletin of 2018  – and it  reported that the Irish economy continues to perform strongly . Thay have forecast a growth in GDP   of 4.4% in 2018 .
The Central Bank forecasts that employment will grow by 2.2% in 2018 and by  1.8% in 2019. This would see an extra  89,000 people in work and overall employment levels at 2.3 million, in excess of the 2007 peak level.

Inflation is forecast to rise to  0.7% in 2018  (0.9% in 2019 )

Average earnings are expected to increase by 3.2% in 2018  and 3.4% in 2019.

Brexit and the Trump presidency  will bring about some uncertainty  – with the final outcome of negotiations between the UK and the EU, as well as potential changes to US tax and trade policies, to which Ireland is highly exposed.