Economy—overview: The economy is small and trade dependent. Agriculture once the most important sector is now dwarfed by industry which accounts for 38% of GDP about 80% of exports and employs 27% of the labor force. Although exports remain the primary engine for Ireland's robust growth the economy is also benefiting from a rise in consumer spending and recovery in both construction and business investment. Since the 1980s inflation has fallen sharply and chronic trade deficits have been transformed into annual surpluses. Unemployment remains a serious problem however and job creation is the main focus of government policy. To ease unemployment Dublin aggressively courts foreign investors and recently created a new industrial development agency to aid small indigenous firms.

GDP: purchasing power parity—$59.9 billion (1997 est.)

GDP—real growth rate: 6% (1997 est.)

GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$18 600 (1997 est.)

GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 8.5%
industry: 38.3%
services: 53.2% (1995)

Inflation rate—consumer price index: 1.6% (1997)

Labor force:
total: 1.52 million (1997 est.)
by occupation: services 62.1% manufacturing and construction 27.0% agriculture forestry and fishing 10.0% utilities 0.9% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate: 11.8% (1997)

Budget:
revenues: $20.6 billion
expenditures: $20.3 billion including capital expenditures of $5.2 billion (1997)

Industries: food products brewing textiles clothing chemicals pharmaceuticals machinery transportation equipment glass and crystal

Industrial production growth rate: 10.1% (1997 est.)

Electricity—capacity: 3.62 million kW (1995)

Electricity—production: 16.586 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity—consumption per capita: 4 672 kWh (1995)

Agriculture—products: turnips barley potatoes sugar beets wheat; meat and dairy products

Exports:
total value: $54.8 billion (f.o.b. 1997)
commodities: chemicals data processing equipment industrial machinery live animals animal products
partners: EU 66% (UK 22% Germany 13% France 8%) US 6%

Imports:
total value: $44.9 billion (c.i.f. 1997)
commodities: food animal feed data processing equipment petroleum and petroleum products machinery textiles clothing
partners: EU 52% (UK 29% Germany 10.2% France 4%) US 12%

Debt—external: $14 billion (1996)

Economic aid:
donor: ODA $81 million (1993)

Currency: 1 Irish pound (£Ir) = 100 pence

Exchange rates: Irish pounds (£Ir) per US$1—0.7233 (January 1997) 0.6588 (1997) 0.6248 (1996) 0.6235 (1995) 0.6676 (1994) 0.6816 (1993)

Fiscal year: calendar year