Ireland: Facts & Stats

ECONOMY

The Irish economy's secondary and tertiary sectors are of a similar size in fiscal terms however in terms of labour, the tertiary sector is far larger. Similarly in fiscal terms the primary sector appears small, however it still employs about 8% of the workforce.

Primary sector:

The primary sector constitutes 5% of Irish GDP, and 8% of Irish employment. Ireland's main economic resource is its large fertile pastures, particularly the midland and southern regions. In 2004, Ireland exported approximately €7.15 billion worth of agri-food and drink (about 8.4% of Ireland's exports), mainly as cattle, beef, and dairy products, and mainly to the United Kingdom. As the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy takes force Ireland's agriculture industry is expected to decline in importance.

In the late nineteenth century, the island was mostly deforested. In 2005, after years of national afforestation programs, about 9% of Ireland has become forested. It is still the least forested country in the EU and heavily relies on imported wood. Its coastline - once abundant in fish, particularly cod - has suffered overfishing and since 1995 the fisheries industry has focused more on aquaculture. Freshwater salmon and trout stocks in Ireland's waterways have also been depleted but are being better managed.

Ireland is a major exporter of zinc to the EU and mining also produces significant quantities of lead and alumina. Beyond this, the country has significant deposits of gypsum, limestone, and smaller quantities of copper, silver, gold, barite, and dolomite. Peat extraction has historically been important, especially from midland bogs, however more efficient fuels and environmental protection of bogs has reduced peat's importance to the economy. Natural gas extraction occurs in the Kinsale Gas Field and the Corrib Gas Field in the southern and western counties, where there is 19.82 bn cubic metres of proven reserves.

Secondary sector:

The secondary sector constitutes 46% of Irish GDP — but only 29% of the labour force. Dominated for many years by textile companies like Fruit of the Loom, the sector is now largely made up of high-tech/high value multi-nationals such as Intel, Pfizer and IBM.

The secondary sector in Ireland manufactures products such as computers (25% of Europe's computers are made in Ireland, the European Headquarters of Apple Computer are in Cork City), computer parts (Intel processors are made in Ireland), drugs (much of Europe's supply of Viagra is made in Cork), confectionery (HB, Jacobs and Cadbury-Schweppes all have significant Irish operations - although Cadbury-Schweppes does not manufacture Schweppes products in Ireland or the UK), beer (the Guinness and Smithwicks, and Harp Lager breweries are located in Ireland), high quality glass and crystal (Waterford Crystal is made in County Waterford), software (Ireland is the world's largest exporter of software - Oracle and Microsoft both have large operations in Dublin) and machinery.

The sector faces increasing competition from cheaper Eastern European countries such as Poland and many Asian countries such as the People's Republic of China, particularly in the lower skill areas such as confectionery manufacturing. The industrial production growth rate in As of 2003 was 6.7%. Over the last decade, construction has become a major component of the economy, currently constituting 9% of economic activity. A recent downturn in residential property market sentiment, combined with the cyclical nature of construction has highlighted the over-exposure of the Irish economy to construction, which now presents a threat to economic growth.

Tertiary sector:

The tertiary sector constitutes 49% of Irish GDP and 64% of Irish employment. The tertiary sector is by far the largest driver of modern Irish economic growth — the Celtic Tiger. It is made up of several industries such as accountancy, legal services, call centres and customer service operations, finance and stock broking, catering, and tourism. Many US firms (such as IBM, Apple Inc., Google and eBay) located their European customer service operations in Ireland due to the availability of a young, highly educated, English speaking workforce.

Recruitment agencies also play a major role in this sector, connecting qualified work candidates to business clients looking to hire in these areas. The Irish tourism industry attracts over five million visitors annually and employs over 100,000. The IFSC in Dublin created some 14,000 jobs in the 1990s, all in the high-value finance and legal sectors. The hospitality and retail sectors are quite large — there are hundreds of domestic and foreign retail firms in Ireland (such as Next and Argos), and most cafe and restaurant firms operate in Ireland such as McDonalds, Starbucks, Burger King and Subway.

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