County Incomes and Regional GDP 2020 was published on 16th February 2023. Data for total numbers employed were revised on 11th May 2023. The data revisions included a redistribution of total persons employed across counties so that the total number employed in each NUTS 3 region is consistent with figures produced in the Labour Force Survey.
All content referencing total numbers employed in the Regional GDP and County Income publication including text, graphs, data tables and PxStat tables have been updated to reflect the revisions. Details as to the extent and impact of these revisions on previously published data can be found in the County Incomes and Regional GDP 2020 Information Note.
The national economy is broken into ten economic sectors, known as the NACE A10 classification. A description of each sector is shown in Table 6.1 (see Background Notes). Figure 3.1 shows the GVA percentage breakdown for each A10 sector at NUTS 3 level.
Industry including manufacturing is the largest of the A10 sector in all but three regions: Border, Midland and Dublin city and county. The South-West region sees the largest contribution from industry where it makes up 71.4% of its regional GVA. Significant reliance on industry is also observed in the West where it accounts for 47% of its GVA, followed by the Mid-West (45%), South-East (42.7%) and Mid-East (35.3%).
Information and Communication makes up 34.2% of the GVA generated in Dublin city and county, it is the only region that sees a significant share of its GVA coming from Information & Communication. Professional, Admin & Support Services contribute 16.4% to Dublin’s GVA followed by Industry at 14.7% and Public Administration, Education & Health at 9.2%.
A more varied picture of the regional economy is observed here compared to the South-West, for example, where GVA is heavily weighted towards Industry. The Border and Midland regions see the greatest portion of their regional GVA come from Public Administration, Education & Health accounting for 34.5% and 33.6% respectively. Both the Midlands and Border regions are the lowest performers in terms of GVA and disposable income which correlate with the Figure 3.1 and the absence of more profitable activities such as Industry or Information & Communication in these regions.
The percentage breakdown of the total number employed by A10 sector at NUTS 3 level is shown in Figure 3.2. The distribution between sectors changes significantly compared to Figure 3.1 showing the GVA generated by certain sectors is not necessarily proportional to the number working within the sector. While we have seen the total number of workers varies considerably between regions, the distribution of workers between A10 sectors stays relatively consistent. The top three sectors in all regions except Dublin city and county are Public Admin., Education and Health; Distribution, Transport, Hotels and Restaurants, and Industry (including manufacturing). In Dublin city and county, the Information and Communication sector takes precedence over Industry due to the presence of large IT multinationals.
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