Personal spending on goods and services increased by 3.1% in the year and is now 10.2% higher than the pre-pandemic peak level of spending in 2019.
Modified Domestic Demand (MDD) a broad measure of underlying domestic activity that covers personal, government, and investment spending, rose by 0.5% in 2023.
Multinational-dominated sectors contracted by 6.8% in 2023 with all other sectors growing by 3.8%.
Compensation of Employees increased by 3.3% in real terms in 2023 compared with 2022.
The Balance of Payments Current Account recorded a surplus of €49.8 billion in transactions with the rest of the world in 2023, a fall of 8.8% compared with 2022, driven by a €40.6bn dis-improvement in the Merchandise Trade balance.
In quarter-on-quarter results, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 3.4% in Quarter 4 (Q4) 2023 compared with Q3 2023 (See Editor’s Note below), while MDD decreased by 0.4% in the quarter.
The updated estimated GDP figure for Q4 2023 is -3.4%. This compares with a Preliminary GDP Estimate for Q4 2023 of -0.7% published on 26 January 2024. The reason for the revision is that the updated GDP estimate for Q4 2022 of -3.4% 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 full year 2023 figures published today are provisional and final figures for GDP and GNI, as well as GNI*, will be published as part of the Annual National Accounts 2023 later in the year.
| 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) today (01 March 2024) published Quarterly National Accounts and International Accounts results for Quarter 4 (Q4) 2023 and provisional results for the Year 2023, following on from the Preliminary GDP Estimates for Q4 2023 and Year 2023 issued on 26 January 2024 as a CSO Frontier Series output.
Assistant Director General with responsibility for National Accounts and Prices Statistics, Jennifer Banim, commented:
“The impact of ongoing global events and decelerating inflation varied across the sectors of the economy in 2023 and today’s results show the overall annual impact and the underlying quarterly variations. The more globalised sectors of the economy contracted for the first time since 2013 with Industry shrinking by 11.0%. The Information & Communication sector continued to grow however, increasing by 8.0% in 2023. Overall, the multinational sector contraction was 6.8% and in 2023, these sectors accounted for 51.5% of total value added in the economy.
There was a mixed picture for sectors focused on the domestic market with economic activity in the Financial & Insurance sector growing by 7.5% in the year, the Distribution, Transport, Hotels & Restaurants sector increasing by 4.5%, and Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing expanding by 15.4%.
Looking at expenditure in the economy, personal spending on goods and services (the PCE indicator) increased by 3.1% in 2023, while Government spending on goods and services rose by 1.7% in the year. Examining PCE at constant price levels over the past four years, personal spending reached €128.7 billion in 2023, a further recovery compared with the 2022 result of €124.8 billion, and 10.2% higher than the €116.8 billion pre-pandemic peak level of spending in 2019. PCE accounted for 28.0% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023, up from 26.3% of GDP recorded in both years 2022 and 2021.
Overall, GDP is estimated to have contracted by 3.2% in 2023, driven largely by a fall of 4.8% in Exports in the year. Gross National Product (GNP) - a measure of economic activity that excludes the profits of multinationals - increased by 4.4% in 2023.
Impact of Globalisation Activities in 2023
Compared with 2022, investment in Intellectual Property Products (IPP) increased by 14.6% in 2023, driving an increase of 2.8% in Final Domestic Demand in the year. Modified Domestic Demand (MDD), a broad measure of underlying domestic demand that excludes IPP and aircraft-related globalisation effects, increased by 0.5% in 2023.
In International Accounts results, the Current Account of the Balance of Payments recorded a surplus of €49.8 billion in flows with the rest of the world in 2023 compared with a surplus of €54.6 billion in 2022, driven largely by a dis-improvement in the merchandise trade balance of €40.6 billion. However, an improvement of €7.7 billion in the Services balance between 2022 and 2023 reflects higher levels of Computer Services Exports in 2023. Multinational profit net outflows were €96.4 billion in the year, a decrease of €29.0 billion on 2022 levels.
Today’s International Accounts publication includes a table of Current Account transactions with the UK. The results show a surplus of €9.8 billion for Trade in Goods & Services with the UK in 2023, an improvement of €5.1 billion on the 2022 trade balance. The trade surplus was offset by a deficit of €28.8 billion for net income flows, giving an overall Current Account deficit of €19.0 billion with the UK in 2023.”