Ireland GDP Shrinks 4.6% In Q1

(RTTNews) - Ireland's economy contracted more than initially estimated in the first quarter of 2023, driven by weaker performance in the multi-national-dominated industry sector, latest figures from the statistical office CSO showed on Friday.

Gross domestic product fell a seasonally adjusted 4.6 percent sequentially in the March quarter.

In the preliminary report, released late April, the rate of decrease for the first quarter was 2.7 percent.

The December quarter figure was revised to a 0.1 percent fall from a 0.3 percent increase estimated initially.

The downward trend in GDP was largely attributed to a 15.7 percent plunge in output the multinational-dominated sectors, which was the largest decline since the first quarter of 2017.

These sectors accounted for 53.0 percent of total value added in the economy, compared with a 47.0 percent share for all other sectors, the CSO said.

On the other hand, modified domestic demand, a broad measure of underlying domestic activity that covers personal, government, and investment spending, but excludes intellectual property products, or IPP, and aircraft leasing-related globalization effects, recovered by 2.7 percent.

MDD grew after contracting in 0.9 percent in the previous quarter and 1.1 percent in the third quarter of last year.

Gross National Product, which is a measure of economic activity that excludes the profits of multinationals, declined 8.0 percent in the first quarter after a 5.6 percent rise in the previous three months.

The globalized industry, excluding construction, sector contracted by 18.2 percent in the first quarter, while the information & communication sector posted an increase of 4.0 percent over the same period.

Construction sector grew 12.0 percent in the quarter and farm sector output rose 15.9 percent. The finance & insurance sector grew 8.3 percent.

Investment in capital formation fell 12.7 percent mainly due to the lower levels of investment in intangible assets compared with the previous quarter.

Personal spending, a key measure of domestic economic activity, alone rose by 1.7 percent. Net exports showed a decline of 1.9 percent.

Examining personal consumption expenditure, or PCE, at constant price levels over the past four years, personal spending in the first quarter of 2023 exceeded the peak pre-pandemic level of personal spending recorded in the second quarter of 2019 by 2.7 percent, the agency said.

Data also showed that the country's current account balance showed a surplus of EUR 13.8 billion in the January to March period.