OECD Economic Surveys: Ireland 2018

Abstract

This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member countries.

The economic situation and policies of Ireland were reviewed by the Committee on 18 January 2018. The draft report was then revised in light of the discussions and given final approval as the agreed report of the whole Committee on 12 February 2018.

The Secretariat’s draft report was prepared for the Committee by Ben Westmore and Yosuke Jin under the supervision of Pierre Beynet. Statistical research assistance was provided by Paula Adamczyk and editorial assistance by Heloise Wickramanayake.

The previous Survey of Ireland was issued in September 2015.

Information about the latest as well as previous Surveys and more information about how Surveys are prepared is available at www.oecd.org/eco/surveys.

Basic statistics of Ireland, 2016

(Numbers in parentheses refer to the OECD average)*

LAND, PEOPLE AND ELECTORAL CYCLE
Population (million)	4.6		Population density per km²	69.1	(37.2)
Under 15 (%)	20.6	(17.9)	Life expectancy (years, 2015)	81.5	(80.5)
Over 65 (%)	13.6	(16.6)	Men	79.6	(77.9)
Foreign-born (%, 2011)	16.4		Women	83.4	(83.1)
Latest 5-year average growth (%)	0.2	(0.6)	Latest general election	February	2016
ECONOMY
Gross domestic product (GDP)			Value added shares (%)
In current prices (billion USD)	304.8		Primary sector	1.0	(2.5)
In current prices (billion EUR)	275.1		Industry including construction	39.3	(26.6)
Latest 5-year average real growth (%)	7.8	(1.9)	Services	59.7	(70.9)
Per capita (000 USD PPP)	72.8	(42.1)
GENERAL GOVERNMENT Per cent of GDP
Expenditure	27.1	(41.5)	Gross financial debt	84.5	(100.2)
Revenue	26.4	(38.6)	Net financial debt	55.5	(65.2)
EXTERNAL ACCOUNTS
Exchange rate (EUR per USD)	0.904		Main exports (% of total merchandise exports)
PPP exchange rate (USA = 1)	0.809		Chemicals and related products, n.e.s.	56.7
In per cent of GDP			Machinery and transport equipment	16.3
Exports of goods and services	121.7	(53.9)	Miscellaneous manufactured articles	12.6
Imports of goods and services	99.8	(49.5)	Main imports (% of total merchandise imports)
Current account balance	3.3	(0.2)	Machinery and transport equipment	39.3
Net international investment position (2014)	-93.2		Chemicals and related products, n.e.s.	21.5
			Miscellaneous manufactured articles	11.8
LABOUR MARKET, SKILLS AND INNOVATION
Employment rate for 15-64 year-olds (%)	64.8	(66.9)	Unemployment rate, Labour Force Survey (age 15 and over) (%)	7.9	(6.3)
Men	70.2	(74.7)	Youth (age 15-24, %)	17.2	(13.0)
Women	59.5	(59.3)	Long-term unemployed (1 year and over, %)	4.2	(2.0)
Participation rate for 15-64 year-olds (%)	70.9	(71.7)	Tertiary educational attainment 25-64 year-olds (%, 2015)	42.8	(35.7)
Average hours worked per year	1 879	(1 763)	Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (% of GDP, 2014)	1.5	(2.4)
ENVIRONMENT
Total primary energy supply per capita (toe, 2015)	2.9	(4.1)	CO2 emissions from fuel combustion per capita (tonnes, 2014)	7.3	(9.4)
Renewables (%, 2015)	8.1	(9.6)	Municipal waste per capita (tonnes, 2012)	0.6	(0.5)
Exposure to air pollution (more than 10 g/m3 of PM2.5, % of population, 2015)	2.8	(75.2)
SOCIETY
Income inequality (Gini coefficient, 2014)	0.298	(0.311)	Education outcomes (PISA score, 2015)
Relative poverty rate (%, 2014)	9.2	(11.3)	Reading	521	(493)
Median disposable household income (000 USD PPP, 2014)	24.3	(22.9)	Mathematics	504	(490)
Public and private spending (% of GDP)			Science	503	(493)
Health care	7.8	(9.0)	Share of women in parliament (%)	22.2	(28.7)
Pensions (2013)	5.4	(9.1)	Net official development assistance (% of GNI)	0.33	(0.39)
Education (primary, secondary, post sec. non tertiary, 2014)	3.7	(3.7)

Better life index: www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org

* Where the OECD aggregate is not provided in the source database, a simple OECD average of latest available data is calculated where data exist for at least 29 member countries.

Source: Calculations based on data extracted from the databases of the following organisations: OECD, International Energy Agency, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Inter-Parliamentary Union, and Central Statistics Office of Ireland.