Ireland review of economic, population and ESG data by World Economics

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Ireland: Fastest Growing Economy in the World with Good Quality Data

Updated: March 2023

Key Insights

Fastest growing economy in the world over decade ending 2022.^*
Second highest GDP per capita in the world.^*
Very high Governance ratings.
One of the coldest developed countries in the world.

* Of countries with believable (Data Quality Rating A or B) economic data. Read more...

ECONOMY SIZE

When measured in Purchasing Power Parity terms, including estimates for its informal economy, Ireland's GDP is currently the 41st largest in the world and 10th in the EU.

Gross Domestic Product: 2022
Ranked by GDP

Country Extract of country GDP by Size See full interactive table	Global Rank (1-155)	GDP PPP (Billions)	GDP Data Quality Grade	Share of Global GDP %

Romania	34	$764	B	0.4%
Belgium	35	$730	A	0.4%
Switzerland	36	$677	A	0.4%
Kazakhstan	37	$669	C	0.4%
Peru	38	$660	D	0.4%
Singapore	39	$650	A	0.4%
Sweden	40	$645	A	0.4%
Ireland	41	$629	A	0.4%
Chile	42	$606	A	0.4%
Algeria	43	$602	B	0.4%
Austria	44	$550	A	0.3%
Hong Kong	45	$504	A	0.3%
Ukraine	46	$501	C	0.3%
Israel	47	$499	A	0.3%
Czech Republic	48	$496	A	0.3%

Access the interactive all country GDP by Size table

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GDP Data Quality

Data rankings are produced from scores in five areas: Base year recency; System of National Accounts framework version; Informal economy size; Statistical resources available; and likelihood of Government interference. Scores are based on a 0-100 scale. Read more...
Official GDP data for Ireland are rated grade A - As good as it gets.
Ireland's GDP data quality ranks 17th globally, 11th for Europe and 8th of 27 countries in the EU.

Data Quality Ratings: EU
Index: 0 = Extremely poor quality, 100 = Good as it gets

Country Extract of country table See full interactive version"	Data Quality Index	Data Quality Grade	Base Year	SNA Version	Informal Economy %	Resoucres Index 0-100	Corruption Index 0-100

Norway	96.6	A	Chained	2008	15.7	100.0	84
Ireland	96.1	A	Chained	2008	12.3	100.0	77
Austria	95.9	A	Chained	2008	8.7	100.0	71
United Kingdom	95.9	A	Chained	2008	10.3	100.0	73
Iceland	95.1	A	Chained	2008	13.9	100.0	74
France	94.9	A	Chained	2008	13.1	100.0	72
Belgium	93.5	A	Chained	2008	19.2	100.0	73
Czech Republic	91.5	A	Chained	2008	14.5	100.0	56
Portugal	91.0	A	Chained	2008	20.3	100.0	62

Access the interactive all country Data Quality Ratings table

Key:
Data Quality Index numbers shown on a scale of 0-100.
         0 = Poor, 100 = Excellent.

Resources Index numbers shown on a scale of 0-100.
         0 = Low level of resources, 100 = High level of resources.

Corruption Index numbers shown on a scale of 0-100.
         0 = High corruption, 100 = Low corruption.

Grade definitions:
         A: As good as it gets;
         B: Good;
         C: Use with caution
         D: Poor quality
         E: Extremely poor quality.

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ECONOMIC GROWTH

Ireland's Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the last 10, 5 and 3 years was 8.7%, 8.3% and 9.4% respectively.
On a 10-year CAGR basis Ireland ranks as the 3rd fastest growing economy in the World and fastest in the EU over the past decade.
Taking into account data quality, Ireland jumps up the rankings to first place to become the world's fastest growing economy over the last 10 years.

Ireland's Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the last 10-years (2012-2022)

Country Extract of country CAGR See full interactive table	Global Rank:	GDP Data Quality: Grade	CAGR 10 Year: 2012-2022	CAGR 5 Year: 2017-2022	CAGR 3 Year: 2019-2022	Global Growth Share: Percentage

Guyana	1	E	13.1%	24.5%	39.5%	0.1%
Bangladesh	2	E	9.1%	9.4%	8.5%	1.9%
Ireland	3	A	8.7%	8.3%	9.4%	0.8%
Vietnam	4	D	8.6%	8.1%	6.4%	1.9%
Ethiopia	5	E	8.1%	6.3%	5.4%	0.5%
Turkmenistan	6	C	6.9%	5.8%	5.6%	0.2%
Cote d'Ivoire	7	D	6.8%	5.4%	4.6%	0.3%
Tajikistan	8	D	6.8%	6.8%	6.4%	0.1%
China	9	B	6.2%	5.2%	4.4%	31.7%
Guinea	10	E	6.0%	5.5%	5.3%	0.1%

Access the interactive all country CAGR table

Over the past 10 years the global economy has grown by 35%. Ireland's contribution to this growth was 0.8% once any allowances are made for base year and informal economy size.

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WEALTH

Ireland's GDP per Capita has grown at the second fastest rate among countries with believable (Data Quality Rating A or B) economic data. Read more....
In GDP per Capita terms, Ireland ranks 2nd in the Global rankings, 2nd for the EU and 2nd in Europe.

Ireland's GDP Per Capita Growth: 10 Years
Index: 1996 = 100

GDP Per Capita: Europe
Ranked by GDP per Capita

Country Extract of country GDP per capita See full interactive table	GDP Per Capita PPP (Int$)	GDP per Capita Data Quality Grade

Luxembourg	$131,813	A
Ireland	$125,292	A
Norway	$77,278	A
Switzerland	$77,137	A
Iceland	$69,371	A
Malta	$68,881	B
Denmark	$68,687	A
Netherlands	$66,284	A
Sweden	$63,081	A

EU Average	$56,272	-
Europe Average	$50,592	-

Access the interactive all country GDP per Capita table

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Related Insights:

Has Union with Britain Been an Economic Calamity for Northern Ireland?

INEQUALITY

Inequality is measured using an Indexed version of the Gini scale (read more). For Ireland the data relates to 2017.
Ireland is shown to be a relatively egalitarian society, ranking 31st globally, 21th for Europe and 15th in the EU.

Inequality Rankings: Europe
Index: 0-100, 0 = High Inequality; 100 = High Equality

Country Extract of country Inequality See full interactive table	Regional Rank	Inequality Index	Poverty % of Population

Hungary	14	53.0	0.0%
Croatia	15	52.9	0.0%
Armenia	16	52.5	0.4%
Sweden	17	52.4	0.0%
Poland	18	52.1	0.0%
Estonia	19	51.9	0.0%
Austria	20	51.1	0.0%
Ireland	21	50.2	0.0%
Germany	22	49.4	0.0%
France	23	48.6	0.0%
Cyprus	24	48.1	0.0%
Greece	25	47.8	0.0%
North Macedonia	26	47.6	3.4%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	27	47.6	0.1%
Switzerland	28	47.5	0.0%

Access the interactive all country Inequality table

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DEBT

World Economics produces GDP data in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for the size of the informal economy.
The World Economics database estimates the Irish Debt to GDP at a modest 41.9%.
This is lower than the IMF's estimate of 47.0%, due to the inclusion of informal economy estimates in the World Economics GDP data.

Debt-to-GDP Ratio for Emerging Market Countries
Ranked by % of GDP

Country Extract of country debtSee full interactive table	Global Rank	Debt-to-GDP Ratio

Malta	70	44.6%
Korea, Rep.	71	44.1%
Netherlands	72	43.9%
Dominican Republic	73	43.6%
Philippines	74	42.3%
Thailand	75	42.0%
Mexico	76	41.9%
Ireland	77	41.9%
North Macedonia	78	40.3%
Romania	79	40.1%
Ecuador	80	39.9%
Poland	81	39.8%
Burkina Faso	82	39.7%
Myanmar	83	39.6%
Trinidad and Tobago	84	39.5%

EU Average			57.7%
Europe Average			50.8%

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Debt-to-GDP Ratio

POPULATION

Ireland's population data is graded A quality (read more)
Age profile is in line with other western democracies.

Ireland's Population Breakdown

Country Extract of country Population See full interactive table	Population Size (Millions)	Median Age (Years)	Age Dependency (Young)	Age Dependency (Old)	Age Dependency (Total)

Congo, Rep.	5.8	18.2	74.0%	4.8%	78.8%
Finland	5.6	42.4	25.0%	37.1%	62.1%
Norway	5.5	39.3	26.1%	27.9%	54.0%
Slovak Republic	5.5	40.6	23.7%	25.8%	49.5%
Oman	5.3	28.8	38.0%	4.0%	42.0%
Liberia	5.3	17.9	73.7%	6.0%	79.7%
Costa Rica	5.2	32.9	29.8%	15.3%	45.1%
Ireland	5.0	37.6	30.5%	22.7%	53.2%
Central African Republic	5.0	14.7	97.7%	5.1%	102.8%
Mauritania	4.9	17.6	76.8%	6.0%	82.7%
New Zealand	4.9	36.5	29.0%	24.4%	53.4%
Panama	4.4	28.8	40.6%	13.2%	53.8%
Kuwait	4.4	38.3	28.4%	6.0%	34.4%
Croatia	4.1	43.7	22.1%	34.4%	56.5%
Moldova	4.0	36.1	29.7%	20.4%	50.2%

Access the interactive all country Population table

Ireland has a young population profile of 30.5% an old population profile of 22.7%. The average age is 38.2 years old.

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ENVIRONMENT

Ireland's per capita emissions are in-line in relation to other developed countries.

Environmental Factors
Index: 0 = High Emissions, 100 = Low Emissions

Country Extract of country table See full interactive version	Emissions Index 0-100	Carbon Emissions Total	Carbon Emissions Per Capita	Methane Emissions Total	Methane Emissions Per Capita	Air Quality PM2.5	Water Access per capita

Bahrain	99.1	39.0	22.3	18.5	10.6	51.8	97.8%
Czech Republic	99.1	97.1	9.1	12.5	1.2	14.3	94.1%
Cambodia	99.1	19.0	1.1	20.0	1.2	17.8	71.7%
Chile	99.1	85.4	4.5	11.9	0.6	20.5	64.0%
Uruguay	99.1	6.7	1.9	20.9	6.0	8.5	94.0%
Azerbaijan	99.2	38.5	3.8	14.9	1.5	24.6	99.9%
Afghanistan	99.2	11.9	0.3	17.1	0.4	62.5	99.7%
Ireland	99.2	37.6	7.5	15.6	3.1	8.2	100.0%
Morocco	99.2	70.6	1.9	12.3	0.3	13.4	96.1%
Madagascar	99.3	4.3	0.2	17.1	0.6	16.0	99.9%
Cameroon	99.3	9.3	0.3	16.9	0.6	56.4	92.2%
Central African Republic	99.3	0.2	0.0	16.2	3.3	27.2	47.2%
Serbia	99.3	30.9	3.6	14.4	1.7	21.7	99.6%
Belgium	99.3	95.7	8.2	8.1	0.7	11.3	99.9%
Guinea	99.3	4.8	0.4	17.1	1.3	37.6	99.3%

See: Access the interactive all country Environmental data table

Key:
Emissions Index numbers shown on a scale of 0-100.
0 = Bad, 100 = Good.

Notes:
Format: Carbon data in Million MtCO2e and Methane data in MtCO2e, Air Quality: PM2.5

Methodology: Total Carbon and Total Methane data for each country has been indexed on a scale of 0-100 by using the standard deviation from the mean for each country. The implied Indexes are averaged to calculate a total Emissions Index which focuses on each countries emissions.

Ireland is a relatively low average temperature, so far little impacted by global warming.

Average Annual Temperature by Year: Ireland

Source: CCKP. World Bank Group, Climate Change Knowledge Portal

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SOCIAL

Ireland has a very high level rank for its social metrics, 6th in Europe, 3rd in the EU and 14th out of 155 countries globally.
Each pupil in education receives 12.7 years of schooling (on average) - approximately four years more than the global average.

Social Factors: Europe
Index: 0 = Poor metrics, 100 = Excellent metrics

Country Extract of country table See full interactive version	Social Factors Index	Life Expectancy Years	Median Age Years	Mean Years Schooling Years	Population in Work Population %	Population in Poverty %

Netherlands	92.0	81.7	41.7	12.6	64.2%	0.0%
Belgium	91.6	81.9	40.9	12.4	50.8%	0.0%
Slovak Republic	91.2	82.8	40.6	11.9	56.3%	0.0%
Cyprus	91.1	81.2	37.6	12.4	58.8%	0.0%
Austria	91.0	81.6	42.8	12.3	57.0%	0.0%
Estonia	90.1	77.1	41.5	13.5	59.4%	0.0%
France	90.1	82.5	41.6	11.6	51.1%	0.0%
Ireland	89.5	82.0	37.6	11.6	58.3%	0.0%
Czech Republic	88.8	77.7	42.6	12.9	58.0%	0.0%
Portugal	88.3	76.5	45.0	13.2	54.0%	0.0%
Italy	88.0	82.9	46.8	10.7	43.7%	0.0%
Greece	87.1	80.1	44.7	11.4	43.0%	0.0%
Croatia	86.7	77.6	43.7	12.2	47.5%	0.0%
Lithuania	86.5	73.7	43.7	13.5	57.2%	0.0%
Slovenia	86.0	74.9	43.2	12.9	55.4%	0.0%

Access the interactive all country Social data table

Key:
Social Factors Index numbers shown on a scale of 0-100
0 = Poor social metrics, 100 = Excellent social metrics.

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GOVERNANCE

Ireland ranks 6th globally, 5th in Europe and 4th in the EU for Governance.

Governance Factors Index
Index: 0 = Poor, 100 = Good

Country Extract of country Governance See full interactive table	Governance Index (0-100 Index)	Rule of Law Index (0-100 Index)	Press Freedom (0-100 Index)	Political Rights (0-100 Index)	Corruption Perceptions (0-100 Index)

Finland	98.0	100	95.4	100.0	96.7
Norway	97.6	97.3	100.0	100.0	93.3
New Zealand	95.2	93.9	90.2	100.0	96.7
Sweden	95.0	91.8	95.9	100.0	92.2
Switzerland	92.9	93.6	89.3	97.6	91.1
Ireland	91.3	86.6	95.3	97.6	85.6
Germany	90.6	88.6	88.5	97.6	87.8
Netherlands	90.6	91.9	84.1	97.6	88.9
Luxembourg	90.0	93.1	86.1	95.2	85.6
Canada	89.9	89	88.2	100.0	82.2
Estonia	89.3	84	95.9	95.2	82.2
Iceland	89.2	92.3	89.2	92.9	82.2
Australia	87.7	90.2	79.6	97.6	83.3

Access the interactive all country Governance table

Key:
The World Economics Governance Index gives equal weight to all four criteria.

Index numbers shown on a scale of 0-100.

Governance: 0 = Poor governance, 100 = As good as it gets.
Corruption Perceptions: 0 = Bad, 100 = Good.
Rule of Law: 0 = low rule of law, 100 = High rule of law.
Press Freedom: 0 = Low press freedom, 100 = High press freedom.
Political Rights: 0 = Low political rights, 100 = High political rights.

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