Report lists Ireland as second richest EU country

ECONOMIC FACTORS:Level of foreign direct investment stands out but spending on RD remains far lower than leading countries, writes DAN O'BRIEN

IRELAND REMAINED the second richest country in the 27-member EU last year, according to the Central Statistics Office’s annual compendium of statistics, entitled Measuring Ireland’s Progress 2009.

Gross domestic product (GDP) per head, when adjusted for differences in the cost of living in different countries, was 31 per cent above the EU average. Although sharply down from its peak in 2007, when it stood at 48 per cent above the average, Ireland remained fractionally above the Netherlands, the country with the third highest standard of living.

Luxembourg is by far the richest country among the 27, with per capita average GDP 168 per cent above the average, while Romania is the poorest at less than half the average.

In 2009, Ireland was one of only three EU member countries to register a fall in prices, even if the price level remains one of the highest in the bloc. When measured by the harmonised index of prices, inflation fell by 1.7 per cent. This index differs from the most frequently reported measure of inflation in Ireland, mostly because it does not include changes in mortgages rates.

Exports were more important for the Irish economy than all others in the EU except one in 2009. When measured as a proportion of GDP, exports stood at over 90 per cent. This compares to an EU average of around 50 per cent. Greece had the smallest export sector at just 18 per cent.

Ireland’s success in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) also stood out. In 2009, inflows of new FDI stood at 11 per cent of GDP. This was the fourth highest in the EU. The average for the euro area was 2.4 per cent.

Last year, just over two-thirds of private households had internet access. This placed Ireland just above the bloc’s average, in 10th place. The Dutch are the best connected, with nine in 10 households having internet access.

Also of relevance for Ireland’s smart economy ambitions is spending on research and development (RD). At 1.4 per cent of GDP in 2008 (the latest available data), this is well below the average of the EU-27, which was 1.9 per cent. It is far below the leaders – Sweden and Norway – whose spend stood at 3.7 per cent.

Lower inputs usually mean lower outputs. The world of commercial innovation is no different. Relatively low spending on RD has meant that patenting in Ireland is lower than the EU average.

NON-ECONOMIC FACTORS

Population increases with EU's highest proportion of young and lowest proportion of older people, writes ELAINE EDWARDS 

IRELAND has the lowest divorce rate and the highest fertility rate in the EU, and its population is increasing at a higher rate than in any EU country, a report published yesterday shows.

The Measuring Ireland's Progress 2009 report also said the State's total expenditure on health is lower than the EU-27 average.

Ireland's population rose by 17.7 per cent to 4.46 million in the period 2000 to 2009, the highest rate of increase in the EU.

The rate of natural increase was 10.5 per 1,000 in 2008 compared with an EU average of only 1.2.

Life expectancy at birth here is 76.8 years for men and 81.6 years for women, figures described as "reasonably close to the EU average".

The State also had the highest proportion of young people in the EU and the lowest proportion of older people.

Those aged up to 14 years made up 30.8 per cent of the population, while those over 65 made up 16.2 per cent.

The EU average was 23.3 per cent and 25.6 per cent respectively.

Ireland recorded a decrease in the number of people deemed to be in consistent poverty, at 4.2 per cent of the population in 2008. This was down on the 5.1 per cent for 2007.

On divorce, the rates in Ireland and Italy – at 0.8 divorces per 1,000 of the population – were the joint lowest in the EU for 2005, the most recent year for which figures are available for all EU countries with divorce.

On health, an average of €3,299 per person was spent on non-capital public expenditure on healthcare in Ireland in 2008, an increase of nearly 62 per cent on the 1999 level. But total expenditure on health is lower than the EU average.

On education, student numbers increased in 2009, particularly at third-level.

The proportion of the population aged 25-34 in Ireland that has completed third-level education is the second highest in the EU.

The pupil-teacher ratio at primary level is high by EU standards. In the school year 2006/2007, this was joint fifth-highest in the EU at 17.9.

Eleven of the reporting EU member states had a pupil-teacher ratio of less than 13 at primary school level.

Ireland's early school-leaver rate is better than the EU average.

On crime, over the four-year period 2004-2008, homicide offences fell by nearly one tenth and sexual offences by a fifth, though most other categories recorded increases.

The number of murders and manslaughters recorded in fell from its peak of 84 in 2007 to 55 in 2008.

On housing, the report said the number of homes built peaked at almost 90,000 in 2006 "before collapsing to about 26,400 in 2009, the level that prevailed before the mid-1990s".

The average value of a new housing loan rose from €92,000 in 1999 to €270,000 in 2008.

On environmental issues, the report said Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions were at 121.3 per cent of 1990 levels in 2008. This was 8.3 percentage points higher than the Kyoto 2008-2012 target.

In 2006 (again, the latest year included in the publication) applications to the European Patent Office from Ireland were half the EU average and one sixth of the most active patenters, the Germans.

If Ireland is less innovative than the average, it is not for lack of effort. According to the report, Irish workers labour longer than their European peers.

This is one reason why productivity per person employed is one third higher than the average and the second highest among the 27.