Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by 0.9% (See Editor’s Note below).
Total Exports expanded by 7.3% in Q1 2024 (+€11.2 billion), with Services Exports increasing by 11.3% (+€9.5 billion).
Modified Domestic Demand (MDD),a broad measure of underlying domestic activity that covers personal, government, and investment spending, went up by 1.4% in Q1 2024.
Personal spending on goods and services,a key measure of domestic economic activity, grew by 0.6% in the quarter.
The Balance of Payments Current Account recorded a surplus of €22.6 billion in transactions with the rest of the world in the quarter.
The updated estimated GDP figure for Q1 2024 Provisional rose by 0.9%. This compares with a Preliminary GDP Estimate published on 29 April 2024 that indicated an increase of 1.1% for the quarter. The reason for the revision is that the updated GDP estimate for Q1 2024 of 0.9% is based on both Expenditure and Output data, while the Preliminary estimate was based predominantly on economic Output data. Preliminary estimates are published under the CSO Frontier Series which may use new compilation processes which are under development and / or new or more timely data sources and therefore the results may be subject to revision over time. Publishing outputs under the Preliminary Estimate allows the CSO to provide useful new information to users and receive informed feedback on these new methods and outputs whilst at the same time making sure that the limitations are well explained and understood. A list of our CSO Frontier Outputs is available.
The Q1 2024 Quarterly National Accounts (QNA) and International Accounts (IA) figures published today are provisional and final figures for GDP, GNP, Modified Domestic Demand, and Current Account Balance will be published as part of the Q1 2024 Final QNA and IA results to be issued in tandem with the Annual National Accounts 2023 results (ANA 2023) later in the year. This year, 2024, is a Benchmark revision year for National Accounts purposes across EU Member States. Benchmark revisions for Ireland will be incorporated in the ANA 2023 and Q1 2024 Final results.
| Christopher Sibley | (+353) 1 498 4305 |
|---|---|
| John Sheridan | (+353) 1 498 4258 |
| nat_acc@cso.ie | |
| internationalaccounts@cso.ie |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (06 June 2024) published Quarterly National Accounts and International Accounts results for Quarter 1 (Q1) 2024, following on from the Preliminary GDP Estimates for Q1 2024 issued on 29 April 2024 as a CSO Frontier Series output.
Assistant Director General with responsibility for Economic Statistics, Christopher Sibley said:
“In today’s results, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to have grown by 0.9% in January, February, and March (Q1) 2024. For Gross National Product (GNP) – a measure of economic activity that excludes the profits of multinationals – an increase of 3.0% is estimated for the quarter.
The globalised Industry (excl. Construction) sector contracted by 6.5% in Q1 2024 compared with Q4 2023 while the Information & Communication sector posted an increase of 3.4% over the same period. Overall, the combined multinational-dominated elements of the Industry and Information & Communication sectors declined by 2.0% in the quarter, the third consecutive quarter of decline. These sectors accounted for 48.8% of total value added in the economy, compared with a 51.2% share for all other sectors.
Domestic Economy
There was a mixed picture for sectors focused on the domestic market, but with overall growth of 1.7% for the sectors combined. The Professional, Administrative & Support sector grew by 6.7% in the quarter while the Arts & Entertainment sector expanded by 4.2% compared with Q4 2023. The Distribution, Transport, Hotels & Restaurants sector increased by 0.9% in Q1 2024 compared with Q4 2023 with the Real Estate sector up by 0.1% quarter-on-quarter. However, there were contractions in Construction, Finance & Insurance, and the Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing sectors in Q1 of 4.9%, 3.7%, and 2.1% respectively. Public Administration, Education & Health declined by 0.3% in the quarter.
Expenditure in the Economy
Looking at expenditure, investment in capital formation fell by 40.6% or €14.9 billion reflecting the lower levels of investment in Intangible Assets compared with the previous quarter. Net exports of Goods & Services rose by 85.3% in Q1 2024 or by €19.4 billion. Personal spending on goods and services (the PCE indicator) increased by 0.6% in the quarter while Government spending on goods and services fell by 1.1% in Q1 2024.
Impact of Globalisation and the Indicators of Underlying Domestic Activity
Final Domestic Demand (FDD), a measure of personal, government, and investment spending, decreased by 18.4% in Q1 2024, reflecting the lower levels of investment in Intangible Assets compared with the previous quarter. In Q1 2024, the Modified Domestic Demand (MDD) indicator increased by 1.4%. MDD is an important measure of underlying demand and excludes Intellectual Property Products (IPP) and aircraft leasing-related globalisation effects from the standard Final Domestic Demand measure.
International Accounts
In the International Accounts, the Current Account of the Balance of Payments recorded a surplus of €22.6 billion in flows with the rest of the world in Q1 2024, an improvement of €9.0 billion compared with the surplus of €13.6 billion recorded in Q1 2023. The Merchandise balance dis-improved by €17.2 billion in Q1 2024 compared with the same quarter in 2023 while the Services balance improved by €8.6 billion. Net outflows of multinational profits were €27.2 billion in the quarter, a decrease of €8.2 billion on the net outflows recorded in Q1 2023 (which improves the Current Account balance). Net Portfolio Investment Income was €0.2 billion in the quarter, an increase of €6.4 billion compared with Q1 2023. Net Other Investment Income was €6.4 billion in the quarter, a rise of €2.9 billion compared with the same quarter of 2023.
Today’s International Accounts publication includes a table of Current Account transactions with the UK. The results show a surplus of €2.2 billion for Trade in Goods & Services with the UK in Q1 2024, little changed on the Q1 2023 trade balance. The trade surplus in Q1 2024 was offset by a deficit of €3.1 billion for net income flows, giving an overall Current Account deficit with the UK of €0.9 billion in the quarter.”