Following a strong performance last year, the outlook for the Irish economy remains positive though headline GDP growth continues to distort the underlying trend. The latest National Income and Expenditure (NIE) accounts indicate that GDP growth last year was 7.2 per cent. Excluding the contribution to headline growth from the globalised activities of multinational enterprises (MNEs) based here, the underlying growth rate in 2017 was in the region of 5 per cent and broadly balanced with positive contributions from both domestic demand and net exports.
A similar outlook is in prospect for this year with some moderation in growth next year as the economy approaches full employment. In the absence of divergent trends in the globalised sectors of the economy, GDP growth of 4.7 per cent this year, moderating to 4.2 per cent in 2019 will be broadly in line with the underlying trend.
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