Cover cartoon in the July 1956 edition of the satirical magazine 'Dublin Opinion' — ‘Shortly Available: Underdeveloped Country: Unrivalled Opportunities: Magnificent Views, Political and Otherwise: Owners Going Abroad.’ As the Irish political system remained in a state of stasis, other Western European countries were rebuilding. West Germany recorded a goods trade surplus in 1952, and it has been in the black since. The period 1950-1973 was called the Golden Age of Economic Growth in Western Europe. Real (inflation-adjusted) annual average compound growth rates were unprecedented, according to Prof Angus Maddison: Greece grew 6.2% annually; West Germany and Italy expanded by 5% each year; France achieved 4%; Portugal and Spain logged 5.7% and 5.8% respectively. The UK had the lowest rate at 2.5%. Ireland's performance was at 3.1% as was Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland — the latter countries were growing from higher prewar bases. For example, in 1973, Swiss per capita GDP was 138% higher than Ireland's, while Denmark's level was 104%.
The Republic of Ireland has done well servicing American companies in the past 10 years. The Ecomosit says it's “polluted by tax arbitrage.”
The Central Bank of Ireland, "As of Q4 2024, the wealthiest 10 per cent of households held 49.1 per cent of total net wealth in the country."
The Irish economy, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was 22% larger in the first quarter of 2025 than one year earlier, according to the latest estimates from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Think about it. The figures suggest that for every €1 of activity last year, there was €1.22 in 2025.7 Jun 2025
EU: 2015-2023: Industrial production by country, annual rates of change (%) 36% in 2015; 2020 14.6%; 2021 28.4%; 2022 18.9%; and 2023 (-7.7%).
Ryanair, in 40 years, is a unique Irish home-grown enterprise that has become the leader in its field across Europe
On July 8, 2025, Ryanair marks its 40th birthday, tracing its roots back to a humble 15‑seat Embraer Bandeirante turboprop that launched.
In its last reporting year, Ryanair’s fleet of over 550 aircraft carried more than 200 million passengers. The airline is the biggest in Europe.
Michael O'Leary has been key to its success for 34 years. He is Irish and the head office is in Dublin.
The European Union has said, "Ireland has a high level of GDP per capita, which can be partly explained by the presence of large multinational companies holding intellectual property.
The associated contract manufacturing (this is mainly Apple) with these assets contributes to GDP, while a large part of the income earned from this production is returned to the companies’ ultimate owners abroad."
The Irish Times reported in August 2025 that "The Economist magazine has published its annual ranking on the world’s richest countries, based on three measures – Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person at market exchange rates, incomes adjusted for local costs, otherwise known as purchasing-power parity, and hours worked."
Ireland and Luxembourg were not included on the list of 178 countries, as Luxembourg has half of its workforce outside its borders. Ireland was excluded as its GDP calculations are “polluted by tax arbitrage.”
That rules Ireland out of consideration as this is a ranking of countries which are “truly rich,” according to The Economist.
Unlike most countries, the GDP measure provides only limited insight into the size of the Irish economy
In 2024, Ireland, of course, headed the GDP of the European Union. (It's foolish to follow Ireland and Luxembourg)
Data selected from the IMF for 2025 in US dollars at GDP per person has are Luxembourg at 140.9; Ireland at 108.9; Switzerland 104.9; Norway at 89.7; United States 89.1; Denmark 74.9; Qatar 71.1; Netherlands 70.5; Australia 64.6; Austria 58.2; Sweden 58.1; Germany 55.9; United Kingdom 54.9; Finland 54.2; UAE 49.5; France 46.8; New Zealand 46.1; Italy 41.1; Spain 36.2; Portugal 30.0.
Setting Luxembourg aside, the Irish authorities introduced a Modified Gross National Income (GNI*) at current prices for 2024 was €321 billion.
This figure represents an increase from €291 billion in 2023 and reflects a decrease in the proportion of GDP that GNI* represents, at 57.1% in 2024, an increase from 55.5% in the previous year
Ireland's Modified Gross National Income (GNI*) at current prices for 2024 was €321 billion. This figure represents an increase from €291 billion in 2023 and reflects a decrease in the proportion of GDP that GNI* represents, at 57.1% in 2024, an increase from 55.5% in the previous year
It is calculated by starting with Gross National Income (GNI) and removing the factor income of redomiciled companies, depreciation on R&D and IP assets, and depreciation on aircraft leasing.
The Goods for processing (above) are a fiction.
The Goods for processing were in China and did not come from Ireland.
The Merchanting involves a resident company purchasing goods from a non-resident supplier and then reselling those same goods to another non-resident customer, all without the goods entering or leaving the merchant's home country.
This was about 31.5 billion.
The net foreign activities were valued at about 96 billion.
The Imports of "Goods for processing" have been a bonanza for the Irish Government since 2015.
The Irish Government got "Imports" from the "Goods for processing" via China.
Multinationals make Ireland’s GDP growth ‘clearly misleading’Ex-Central Bank chief: In real world, Ireland is nowhere near top of EU wealth table (2021).
Enterprise Ireland, an Irish government agency that supports companies to sell overseas.
There are no details on the number of big or small companies.
Ireland: 2024 Country Report: EURO
"SMEs ability to grow, dragging down Ireland’s competitiveness..
The investment rate of Irish firms lags behind that of EU peers ( 3 ).
In addition, Irish SMEs are not as engaged internationally as their EU counterparts: two out of three Irish SMEs are not involved in exporting activities, limiting their growth potential.
Furthermore, Ireland’s R&D expenditure remains below the EU average, with a significant proportion of public support channelled through tax credits, which only reaches a small proportion of all SMEs."
Ireland’s dual economy: divergent performance, lowest export rate in the EU
€156 billion in corporate tax revenue has flowed to Ireland from the United States since 2015
In July 2016, American economist Paul Krugman dubbed the annual revision of Irish 2015 GDP (Gross Domestic Product) "Leprechaun economics."
The 2015 GDP had jumped to a stunning 26.3% on the 2014 data. In more recent times, the Irish ambassador to the United States, Daniel Mulhall, called the use of the word "leprechaun" by the Nobel Prize-winning economist"an unacceptable slur."
Ireland's low number of multinational firms and poor exporting record since 1932
Goodbody, the Dublin law firm, in 2025 indicated that approximately 75% of Ireland's corporate tax revenue comes from US.
This high dependency makes Ireland's tax base vulnerable to changes in US tax policy, according to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Goodbody.
Department of Finance figures show revenue from the business levy advanced by more than 300% since 2015.
The State’s corporate tax boom has generated €156 billion in just 10 years, figures from the Department of Finance show.
Despite various international clampdowns, including changes to US tax law and the introduction of a 15 per cent minimum tax rate, receipts from the business tax here have ballooned by more than 300 per cent in the past decade, rising from €6.9 billion in 2015 to €28 billion last year.
The €156 billion total includes €11 billion from last year’s Apple tax ruling.
The Republic has, ironically, benefited from a global crackdown on corporate tax avoidance with several US multinationals, including Apple, Google and Microsoft, shifting more profits to units in the Republic and away from offshore locations such as the Cayman Islands.
