February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Growth dropped last year to half the level during the economic boom, exports fell by a third and there was a phenomenal slowdown in output growth from the computer and electrical equipment industries.
Computer output growth plummeted to 3.7 percent, compared to 37.4 percent in 2000, and the fall in the electrical machinery and equipment output growth was just as bad, down to 2.4 percent compared to 32.7 percent the year before.
Overall, the CSO revised GDP growth downward to 5.7 percent from a previous estimate of 5.9 percent. It also revised its gross national product estimate for last year, down from 5 percent to 4.6 percent.
The figures represent a significant slowdown on the annual growth rates of recent years during so-called Celtic Tiger boom.
The average annual growth in GDP was 9.8 percent in the period 1995 to 2000 while GNP grew at an average rate of 9 percent over this period.
The CSO’s national income and expenditure figures show consumer spending remained buoyant last year, growing by 9.6 percent. Government spending on goods and services climbed by 18.7 percent.
Capital investment rose by 7.7 percent in money terms, which represents a drop of 0.5 percent in real terms.
Exports outpaced imports by euro 16.87 billion. A rise of euro 2.84 billion in the export surplus over 2000 was offset by an increase of euro 2.7 billion in net factor income outflows to the rest of the world.
The output of industry per head of population was euro 29,820 for everyone in the country and per person at work it was euro 69,499.