The domestic economy grew by almost 2% in the first six months of this year, according to latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.
Today’s CSO figures show that personal spending on good and services are continuing to grow and rose by 1.1% in the second quarter of 2024.
Wages grew in the quarter by 0.7%, while government spending was up 1.5%.
Overall figures for the quarter showed a mixed picture, but economists said that today’s figures confirmed robust growth for the Irish economy.
Professor John FitzGerald of Trinity College said wages, corporation tax and job creation all showed strong growth.
The figures for the second quarter of 2024 were dragged down by a big drop investment of 65% – which is due to changes in relation to intellectual property.
Today’s CSO figures show Gross Domestic Product, a measure of activity which includes multinationals, dropped in the second quarter of this year by 1% while Modified Domestic Demand slipped 0.5%
Finance and insurance fell by 9.8% in the quarter while the professional, administrative and support sectors fell by 2.9% compared with the first quarter.
Distribution, transport, hotels and the restaurant sector fell by 1.1% and the arts and entertainment sector dropped by 10.1%. Construction fell by 1% while real estate posted a modest increase of 0.9%.
Commenting on today’s CSO figures, the Minister for Finance Jack Chambers said that in terms of the domestic economy, Modified Domestic Demand – the preferred metric of Ireland’s economic performance – declined on a quarterly basis, but recorded positive growth of 1.5% on an annual basis.
“I am pleased to see that consumer spending contributed positively to this growth, with consumption increasing by 1.3% on an annual basis. The growth in consumer spending, alongside robust exchequer figures released yesterday and the strength of our labour market highlights the relatively healthy position of our domestic economy at present,” Mr Chambers said.
“Looking ahead, inflation has now eased back significantly and is expected to remain on a stable trajectory over the short term. This will help boost real incomes which should further support growth in our domestic economy in the second half of the year,” he added.
Article Source – Domestic economy grew by almost 2% in first half of 2024 – CSO – RTE
