Under the new European Business Statistics (EBS) Regulation 2019/2152, the Sectors covered in Structural Business Statistics and Business Demography are now common as part of an EU-wide initiative to improve data processing and enhance coherency across a range of enterprise statistical products. To facilitate comparability with previous years, however, this release (2021) provides data on NACE sectors B to N (excluding K), R92, R93, S95, and S96. Users should note that the results presented in this release include both market and non-market producing enterprises.
The 2021 Business Demography release includes the full population of NACE sectors set out in the Regulation. While the common sectors presented in both Business in Ireland and Business Demography are generally coherent, there may be slight differences in reported enterprises and persons employed. This is primarily due to the application of differing data processing and frame management, including legal form status, which has resulted in those slight differences.
Further releases under the ‘Business in Ireland’ title are planned which will include the full EBS NACE population as well as providing additional data and insights into the composition and constitution of enterprises across the economy.
In 2021 total turnover in the Structural Business Economy increased by 24% to €1,013.8 billion when compared with 2020.
Gross Value Added (GVA), grew by 18% to €326.0 billion in 2021 when compared with 2020 and by 30% when compared with 2019.
The number of persons employed rose by 4.1% to 1.7 million in the 12 months to 2021.
The number of enterprises in the Structural Business Economy was up 6.2% from 291,489 enterprises in 2020 to 309,679 in 2021.
In the total Structural Business Economy, the Services sector had the largest share of enterprises (55%), persons employed (50%), and turnover (40%) in 2021, while it accounted for the second largest share of GVA at 40%.
Industry had the lowest share of enterprises (7%) while it made up the largest share of GVA at 48%. It represented 16% of persons employed and 38% of turnover in the Structural Business Economy.
Distribution accounted for 23% of persons employed in the Structural Business Economy and almost 9% of all GVA.
Construction accounted for 23% of enterprises and 10% of persons employed in the Structural Business Economy.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (25 October 2023) published Business in Ireland 2021 – Summary Results.
This release covers the calendar year 2021 and provides details of individual surveys in the Structural Business Economy i.e. Census of Industrial Production, Annual Services Inquiry, and Building & Construction Inquiry. Further releases on Business in Ireland will be published later this year relating to topics on Small & Medium Enterprises, Multinationals, and Business Costs.
Commenting on the release, Eamonn Cleary, Statistician in the Business Statistics Division, said: “In 2021 total turnover increased by 24% to €1,013.8 billion when compared with 2020, reflecting the easing of COVID-19 related restrictions in the Structural Business Economy. This was also reflected in Gross Value Added (GVA), which grew by 18% to €326.0 billion in 2021 when compared with 2020."
Industry
Commenting on the Industrial sector in this release, Eamonn Cleary said: "In 2021, turnover in Industry increased by 27% to €380.8 billion and Gross Value Added (GVA) rose by 23% to €157.6 billion, reflecting a strong upturn in multinational dominated sectors. There were 20,595 Industrial enterprises in 2021, up by just over 7% when compared with 2020 and the largest total since the current system of sectoral classification commenced in 2008. The number of persons employed in Industrial enterprises rose by 4% to 271,263 in 2021.
In 2021, Industrial enterprises accounted for just under 7% of all enterprises (309,679) in the Structural Business Economy. These enterprises generated almost half (48%) of total GVA, when measured at factor cost, and 38% of total turnover. This dominance in GVA and turnover was driven by Manufacturing where GVA of €152.2 billion accounted for 47% of all GVA (€326.0 billion) in the Structural Business Economy and turnover of €364.7 billion, which accounted for 36% of total turnover (€1,013.8 billion)."
Distribution and Services
Commenting on the Distribution and Services sectors, Stephanie Kelleher, Statistician in the Business Statistics Division, said: "Almost three-quarters (1,221,877) of all persons employed in the Structural Business Economy in 2021 were in Services (50%) and Distribution (23%). More than half (55%) of all enterprises were in the Services sector while Distribution accounted for a further 16% of enterprises.
The number of enterprises in Services rose by almost 5% from 162,862 in 2020 to 170,231 in 2021, while persons employed increased by 4% from 807,781 to 838,857.
Turnover in the Services sector grew by just under 33% to €402.9 billion in 2021, accounting for 40% of total turnover (€1,013.8 billion) in the Structural Business Economy. This was largely driven by the Information & Communication sector at €256.6 billion (25%) of total turnover.
GVA in the Services sector increased by more than 17% to €131.8 billion in 2021, accounting for 40% of the total GVA (€326.0 billion), again driven by the Information & Communication sector GVA at €74.1 billion, representing just under 23% of total GVA in the Structural Business Economy.
In the Distribution sector the number of enterprises grew by 3% from 46,792 in 2020 to 48,394 in 2021, while persons employed rose by almost 3% from 372,853 to 383,020. Turnover increased by almost 6% to €193.9 billion and GVA was up by 2% to €27.7 billion in the year to 2021.”
Construction
Commenting on the Construction sector in this release, Shane O'Sullivan, Statistician in the Business Statistics Division, said: "Turnover in the Construction sector rose by 24% to €36.2 billion in 2021 and GVA rose by 10% to €8.9 billion.
The number of persons employed in the Construction sector grew by 8% to 170,446 in 2021. The number of enterprises was up by 12% in 2021 compared with a 5.9% increase in 2020.
Looking at the 15 detailed business sectors, while Construction accounted for the largest number of active enterprises (70,459) in 2021, it was only the fourth largest sector in terms of employment with a total of 170,446 persons employed."