Feedback

COUNTRIES
of the WORLD

. Index

. 1996 Index

. Flag

. Geography

. People

. Government

. Economy

. Transportation

. Commun'tions

. Defense

. Geo Names

. Feedback

===========

Ireland Economy 1996

Overview:

The economy is small and trade dependent. Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry, which accounts for 37% of GDP, about 80% of exports, and employs 28% of the labor force. Although exports remain the primary engine for Ireland's robust growth, the economy is also benefiting from a rise in consumer spending and recovery in both construction and business investment. Ireland has substantially reduced its external debt since 1987, to 40% of GDP in 1994. Over the same period, inflation has fallen sharply and chronic trade deficits have been transformed into annual surpluses. Unemployment remains a serious problem, however, and job creation is the main focus of government policy. To ease unemployment, Dublin aggressively courts foreign investors and recently created a new industrial development agency to aid small indigenous firms. Government assistance is constrained by Dublin's continuing deficit reduction measures.

National product:

GDP - purchasing power parity - $49.8 billion (1994 est.)

National product real growth rate:

5.5% (1994 est.)

National product per capita:

$14,060 (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

2.7% (1994 est.)

Unemployment rate:

16% (1994 est.)

Budget:

revenues:

$16 billion

expenditures:

$16.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1994)

Exports:

$28 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)

commodities:

chemicals, data processing equipment, industrial machinery, live animals, animal products

partners:

EU 75% (UK 32%, Germany 13%, France 10%), US 9%

Imports:

$26 billion (c.i.f., 1994 est.)

commodities:

food, animal feed, data processing equipment, petroleum and petroleum products, machinery, textiles, clothing

partners:

EU 66% (UK 41%, Germany 8%, France 4%), US 15%

External debt:

$20 billion (1994 est.)

Industrial production:

growth rate 8.5% (1994 est.); accounts for 37% of GDP

Electricity:

capacity:

3,930,000 kW

production:

14.9 billion kWh

consumption per capita:

3,938 kWh (1993)

Industries:

food products, brewing, textiles, clothing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machinery, transportation equipment, glass and crystal

Agriculture:

accounts for 10% of GDP; principal crops - turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat; livestock - meat and dairy products; 85% self-sufficient in food; food shortages include bread grain, fruits, vegetables

Illicit drugs:

transshipment point for hashish from North Africa to the UK and Netherlands

Economic aid:

donor:

ODA commitments (1980-89), $90 million

Currency:

1 Irish pound (#Ir) = 100 pence

Exchange rates:

Irish pounds (#Ir) per US$1 - 0.6420 (January 1995), 0.6676 (1994), 0.6816 (1993), 0.5864 (1992), 0.6190 (1991), 0.6030 (1990)

Fiscal year:

calendar year

Thank you for making this an award winning site

Please put this page in your BOOKMARKS - - - - -

ITA Home Page	The IMMIGRATION Superhighway	Feedback
ITA WWWDesign	Flags of all Countries	Yahoo search

Revised 13-August-1997