Ireland’s return to recession dashes hopes
Irish gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2011, following a 1.1 per cent contraction in the third.
The news overshadowed the economy’s first annual expansion since 2007. GDP rose by 0.7 per cent in 2011 as a whole, ending three successive years of declines that saw the economy shrink by more than a tenth.
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Hide AdGross national product (GNP) – a measure many economists prefer to use for Ireland because it excludes the exported profits of multinational companies – fell by a much sharper 2.2 per cent in the final quarter. That followed a GNP fall of 1.9 per cent in the third quarter, suggesting a much harsher experience than the headline figure implies.