Domestic economy grows 3.1% in first nine months of 2024 – CSO
The domestic economy expanded by 3.1% in the first nine months of this year, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.
The figures show personal consumption grew by 2.4% and wages to employees rose by 3% in the first nine months of the year, compared to same period a year earlier.
Today’s CSO figures show the economy is continuing to perform robustly so far this year.
The domestic economy grew by 1.3% in the third quarter of this year – for the months of July, August and September.
Gross Domestic Product, a measure of the economy which includes the impact of multinationals, grew by 3.5% in the third quarter.
However, figures for GDP for the first nine months of year showed a drop of 1.7%.
In the first nine months of year the multinational dominated sector rose 9% and modified investment grew 5.1%.
EY Ireland’s chief economist Dr Loretta O’Sullivan said there were several positives in the economic data published today by the CSO.
“Particularly encouraging is the fact that Ireland’s multinational and domestic cylinders were both firing,” Dr O’Sullivan said.
“The sectoral breakdown of the results for the third quarter shows that industry and information and communications technology put in a good performance, taking the headline GDP metric back into expansionary territory,” she said.
“More home-focused sectors like construction also expanded and Modified Domestic Demand, which is a proxy for the domestic economy, powered on,” she added.
Commenting on today’s figures, Minister for Finance Jack Chambers said that importantly, growth on an annual basis has been broad based in nature with both consumer spending (up 1.7%) and modified investment (up 10.4%) making a positive contribution.
“This solid growth is consistent with the strength of our labour market and the robust exchequer figures released yesterday. Taken together these metrics all demonstrate that the economy has performed strongly this year,” Mr Chambers said.
But he said that while today’s figures are encouraging they are backward looking.
“The economic outlook has become increasingly uncertain and risks are now clearly titled to the downside with the most pressing risks external in nature. As a small, open and highly globalised economy, Ireland is particularly vulnerable to any deterioration in the external environment,” the Minister said.
“Put simply, these are risks that we cannot control directly – we must instead focus on managing what is in our control,” he said.
“In particular, we must continue to build up our fiscal buffers, invest in our people and our infrastructure, and ensure the economy remains competitive. This will help ensure that we are in the best position possible to address future challenges,” he added.
Article Source – Domestic economy grows 3.1% in first nine months of 2024 – CSO – RTE
