The latest economic data from Ireland's national statistical office shows the economy is continuing to contract.
ADVERTISEMENTIrish gross domestic product (GDP) experienced a 0.7% quarter-on-quarter contraction in the fourth quarter of 2023. According to a preliminary estimate published by the Central Statistics Office on Friday, GDP was 3.4% lower compared with the same period last year.
The decline was mainly driven by decreases in the multinational-dominated sectors between October and December 2023.
"In today's release, GDP is estimated to have fallen by 0.7% in Q4 2023 in volume terms when compared with Q3 2023, driven by decreases in the multinational-dominated sectors of Industry and Information & Communication in Q4 2023," said senior statistician Rachel O'Carroll.
The government has previously advised against using GDP alone to measure economic growth, citing its potential inflation by multinational activity. The government prefers using modified domestic demand (MDD), which is not considered in early estimates.
Irish GDP dropped by 1.3% year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2023, while MDD increased by 0.8%.
"Company profits may be subject to year-end adjustments which are not available in time to be included in this early estimate of GDP," O'Carroll pointed out.
"Data from Q4 2023 may therefore be subject to a higher degree of revision in future QNA publications than data from the Q1, Q2 or Q3 2023 reference quarters."
The GDP figure for the full year of 2023 is expected to show a fall of 1.9% compared with 2022.
