Analysis of Irish Economy - Case Study Example

Irish Economy Name Institution Course Date Abstract Ireland ranks among Europe’s fastest expanding economies. The Irish economy has been doing well since 2008 even as the economy of most European countries continue to struggle. In 2016, Ireland recorded 7.8% economic growth, which is more than even that of China and other large economies in the world. The GDP report indicates that the Irish GDP dropped in 2009 and 2010 compared to 2008 due to the effects of the 2007/2008 economic crisis. However, since 2013, the country’s GDP has been expanding steadily to today. The same applies to the country’s GNP that has, though marginally since 2008 as the economy of Ireland continues to grow. The report also indicates that unemployment is a growing concern as the rate of unemployment has been on an upward trajectory since 2008, having peaked in 2012 at 14.67% notwithstanding the fact that the economy of Ireland has been growing. Nevertheless, since 2013, the rate of unemployment in Ireland has been dropping and currently stands at about 9.5%, which the reduction expected to continue as the country’s expanding economy continues to create more jobs for the Irish people. The report also indicates that Ireland experiences high emigration of Irish people who are moving to foreign nations despite the growing Irish economy. Similarly, the country has been experiencing high rates of immigration, especially non-Irish who are entering Ireland in large numbers. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 GDP 4 GNP 4 Employment Statistics 5 Emigration Statistics 6 Immigration Statistics 6 Conclusion 7 References 8 Introduction Irish economy is one of the most vibrant and fastest growing economies in the world. In recent years, the Irish economy has been growing at a faster rate than even large economies like China and this has made Ireland become a nation of increased focused for foreign direct investment (Lynch 2016). This report seeks to provide a summary of Irish economy from 2008 to date in light of its GDP, GNP, employment, and emigration and immigration statistics. GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is one of the parameters for measuring the status of an economy. GDP measures the output and income generated by a country’s economy in any given year. A critical look at the historical figures of Irish GDP indicates that its GDP has been rising and falling from 2008 to today. In 2008, Irish GDP was worth US$274.72 billion. However, the GDP of the country fell to US$235.77 billion and US$221.36 billion in 2009 and 2010 respectively at the height of the global financial crisis that had a biting effect on the Irish economy (ESRI 2017). In 2011, the GDP recorded significant growth to reach US$240.58 billion. However, the growth was not maintained the following year as Irish economy fell again in 2012 to US225.82 billion. Subsequently, the Irish GDP has been recording remarkable growth that began in 2013. In 2013, Irish GDP was worth US$239.27 billion and this improved to US$256.27 and US$283.7 billion in 2014 and 2015 respectively (Lynch 2016). GNP The health of the economy of a country is also measured by gross national product (GNP). GNP is a measure of the total value of services and goods produced by citizens of a country in any a particular year. Like GDP, historical data indicates that Irish GNP has been fluctuating from high to low since 2008. In 2008, the Irish GNP was worth €36.6628 billion and this declined to €34.3586 billion in 2009 (Asset Macro 2017). The decline in the GNP in 2009 is attributed mainly to the economic downturn that began in 2007/2008 financial crisis that affected the output of goods and services in Ireland and the rest of Europe. However, the GNP improved significantly in 2010 as the Irish GNP improved to €37.0108 billion. However, in 2011, the country’s GNP declined slightly to €35.5727 billion before recording a slight improvement in 2012 compared to 2011 after the country’s GNP improved to €35.9817 billion. In 2013, there was also a slight improvement in GNP value compared to 2012 after the GNP improved to €38.5969 billion (Ieconomics 2012). The Irish 2014 GNP value was even better as the country produced goods and services worth €42.0312 billion as the economy of Ireland started recording remarkable growth, which continued even in 2015 when the country’s GNP improved to €44.1273 billion. The growth in GNP figures was observed again in 2016 as the country’s GNP as at the end of June 2016 was €51.5909 billion (Asset Macro 2017). Fortunately, economists project the GNP to continue growing in the coming years as the Irish economy become stronger and stronger. Employment Statistics Employment is another parameter used to gauge the economic health of a country. This is usually determined by looking at the number of people who are jobless in a country. Like in most countries across the globe, unemployment remains one of the greatest challenges to the Irish economy. Historical data indicates that the number of jobless people in Ireland has been increasing from 2008 and reaching its peak in 2012 after which the rate of unemployment started falling. In 2008, unemployment rate stood at just 6.4% (The World Bank 2016). However, following the financial crisis that resulted in mass layoffs and closer of a significant number of Irish businesses, unemployment rates jumped to 12.01% (ESRI 2017). Things become worse in 2010, 2011, and 2012, when the rate of unemployment reached Irish all time high of 13.85%, 14.62% and 14.67% for 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively (CSO 2017). However, the economic stimulus introduced by the Irish government in 2013 helped ease the rising unemployment rates as the economic growth realized since 2013 has helped address the problem of unemployment that has been declining year after year something that is expected to continue in the coming years. In 2013, unemployment rate stood at 13.05%, which marked a significant reduction compared to 2012. The rate of unemployment reduced further in 2014 and 2015 to 11.26% and 9.4% respectively (Lynch 2016). However, unemployment rate almost stagnated in 2016 as the rate of unemployment increased marginally to 9.5%, though this is still low compared to 2012 when it peaked at 14.67% (Heritage 2017). Economists project that the rate of unemployment is likely to reduce in 2017 due to the growing economy of Ireland. Emigration Statistics Emigration refers to the movement of people from one country to another. Ireland is one of the countries with high emigration rates as more and more Irish people immigrate to other countries. Although the population of Ireland currently stands at just about 5 million, approximately 20 million Irish descents live in foreign countries. In 2008, there were 13,100 Irish and 89,700 non-Irish people moved to foreign countries for different reasons, such as employment, business and for permanent citizenship (Kenny 2015). In 2009, there were 19,200 Irish and 52,800 non-Irish people immigrated to foreign countries and the number of emigrants was 28,900 and 23,700 in 2010 for Irish and non-Irish respectively. In 2011, there were about 42,000 Irish and 33,700 non-Irish emigrants on other parts of the world and this increased to 46,500 and 32,100 for Irish and non-Irish respectively in 2012 (The World Bank 2016). The peak was reached in 2013 when more than 50,090 people Irish descents emigrated to foreign nations. In the same year, 40,200 non-Irish also immigrated. However, the number of Irish emigrants declined to about 40,700 2014 while non-Irish emigrated stood at 49,000 people. In 2015 only about 35,300 Irish and 57,200 non-Irish left the country for other nations (CSO 2017). In 2016, the number of Irish nationals that left declined to just about 30,000 while that of non-Irish increased to 60,300 people. It is surprising that the number of Irish people living the country remains high despite the improvement in the economy. Immigration Statistics Ireland is among the countries that have been experiencing increased influx of immigrants from Africa, Asia, Europe and the rest of the world. In recent years, the number of non-Irish people coming to settle in Ireland for varied reasons search as business and search for jobs has been high. In 2008, the number of immigrants that settled in Ireland from foreign nations was 23,800 and 36,100 for Irish and non-Irish immigrants respectively (CSO 2017). In 2009, the number of immigrants to Ireland stood at 23,000 and 52,800 for Irish and non-Irish immigrants respectively. The 2009 statistics indicate that, although there was a small decline in the number of immigrants of Irish descents, there was a huge increase in the number of Non-Irish that immigrated to Ireland that year. In 2010, the number of Irish and non-Irish immigrants was 17,900 and 40,300 respectively (The World Bank 2016). In 2011, the number of Irish immigrants increased from 17,900 in 2010 to 19,600 while non-Irish immigrants declined from 40,300 recorded in 2010 to 38,600 in 2011. In 2012, there were 20,600 and 40,600 Irish and non-Irish immigrants respectively. In 2013, there were 15,700 Irish immigrants and 38.1 non-Irish immigrants. In 2014, 11,600 Irish people immigrated to Ireland, while 41,200 immigrants were non-Irish (Kenny 2015). In 2015, there were about 12,500 Irish and 45,600 non-Irish immigrants who came to settle in Ireland (The World Bank 2016). In 2016, the number Irish and non-Irish immigrants increased to 13,200 and 48,300 respectively (Kenny 2015). Conclusion The Irish economy is a vibrant and one of the fastest growing in the world, having grown by 7.8% in 2016. The summary of the Irish economy has indicated that the country’s GDP and GNP have been expanding since 2008, which is a sign that the economy is heading in the right direction. However, the summary also indicates that unemployment is a concern for the country as the number of the unemployed has been increasing since 2008 instead of decreasing. Additionally, Ireland experiences high emigration and immigration as indicated in the summary. References Asset Macro 2017, Ireland GNP Index, viewed 5 March 2017 https://www.assetmacro.com/ireland/gnp/ ClareDaily 2013, Latest emigration figures show increase in people leaving Ireland, viewed 5 March 2017 http://claredaly.ie/latest-emigration-figures-show-increase-in-people-leaving-ireland/ CSO 2017, Key short-term economic indicators, viewed 5 March 2017 http://www.cso.ie/indicators/Maintable.aspx ESRI 2017, Irish economy, viewed 5 March 2017 https://www.esri.ie/irish-economy/ Heritage 2017, 2017 index of economic freedom: Ireland. Viewed 5 March 2017 http://www.heritage.org/index/country/ireland Ieconomics 2012, Ireland gross national product – Forecast, viewed 5 March 2017 https://ieconomics.com/ireland-gross-national-product-forecast Kenny, C 2015, “Emigration of Irish nationals falls 13% with 35,300 leaving in year,” The Irish Times 26 Aug., viewed 5 March 2017 http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/abroad/generation-emigration/emigration-of-irish-nationals-falls-13-with-35-300-leaving-in-year-1.2329252 Lynch, S 2016, “Ireland remains fastest-growing economy in Europe,” The Irish Times 4 Feb., vied 5 March 2017 http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/ireland-remains-fastest-growing-economy-in-europe-1.2522354 OECD 2016, Ireland, viewed 5 March 2017 https://data.oecd.org/ireland.htm The World Bank 2016, Ireland, viewed 5 March 2017 http://data.worldbank.org/country/ireland Read More