The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has published Ireland 2022: The Year in Numbers, Business and Economy.

The snapshot of the Irish economy and business environment in 2022 is based on data published by the CSO.

Inflation

Although annual inflation fell slightly in the most recent November figures, inflation hit its highest level in 38 years in 2022. Over the course of the year to November 2022 there were significant price increases noted in electricity (+64%), gas (+89%), liquid fuels or home heating oil (+57%), and solid fuels (+47%).

Prices rose across a range of food products such as fresh whole milk (+33%), sugar (+25%), butter (+23%), eggs (+21%), and bread (+18%) over the 12 months to November 2022.

In Association with

Wholesale Price Index

CSO data shows there were very large increases in wholesale electricity prices during 2021, with prices up more than 260% compared with the 2020 average. Other wholesale energy fuels also increased in price, and the index for all energy products was up by almost 161% on 2020.

Wholesale electricity prices were almost 37% lower in October 2022 than in October 2021. Some of the most significant changes in producer prices for food products over the 12 months to October 2022 such as Dairy Products (+51%), Fish & Fish Products (+21%), and Fruit & Vegetables (+16%).

Construction Costs

Wholesale prices also influence construction costs. The most recent WPI release said the most notable increases in costs in the Construction sector were in Fabricated Metal which rose by almost 57% over the 12 months to October 2022, and the cost of PVC pipes and fittings, used in part by the plumbing industry, also rose by 28% over the same period.

New Dwelling Completions

During the first three quarters of 2022, new dwelling completions stood at 20,810, which was greater than the total for the whole of 2021 (20,560). The release in October showed new dwelling completions in July, August, and September (Q3) 2022 were up 63% from Q3 2021.

Over the same period, apartment completions increased by 153%, scheme dwellings rose by 44%, and single dwellings were up 27%. Completions increased by more than 30% in all regions of Ireland from Q3 2021 and were up by 113% in Dublin.

Planning Permissions

There was an annual decrease of 41% in the total number of dwelling units approved in Q3 2022 compared with Q3 2021. In the 12 months to September 2022, the number of multi-development houses that had received planning permission rose by than 15%, compared with a drop of more than 18% in one-off houses.

Property Prices

In September, the national property index was 167.8, which was 2.6% above its highest level at the peak of the property boom in April 2007. The most recent national Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) published in December put the median price or mid-point price of a dwelling purchased in the 12 months to October 2022 at €300,000, with the lowest median price at €148,000 recorded in Longford and the highest median price of €620,000 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.

The most expensive Eircode area over the last 12 months to October 2022 was A94 'Blackrock', with a median price of €732,500, while F35 'Ballyhaunis' was the least expensive at €124,500.

National Accounts

Figures published in December showed that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was estimated to have increased by 2.3% in Q3 2022. For Gross National Product (GNP) – a measure of economic activity that excludes the profits of multinationals – a decline of 2.2% was estimated for the quarter.

The multinational-dominated sectors accounted for almost 56% of total value added in the economy in Q3 2022, while all other sectors made up 44%.

Results for the first nine months of 2022 (January to September 2022) compared with the equivalent period of 2021 showed GDP increased by 11.7%, personal spending rose by 7.2%, while Modified Domestic Demand, a broad measure of underlying domestic activity and spending, grew by 10.1% over the same period.

Wealth and Taxes

A release in November estimated that households added €32bn to their wealth in 2021. Household net wealth held in financial assets stood at €366bn at the end of 2021, up from €318bn at the end of 2020. This is in addition to wealth held in assets such as houses.

A separate release published in November also showed that almost half (48%) of taxes in 2021 were generated from taxes on income. Taxes on products accounted for 28% of taxes. Corporation tax receipts almost doubled in the last five years from €8bn in 2017 to €15bn in 2021.

Trade

CSO data for Ireland’s Trade in Goods for 2021 which showed that that the country exported more than €165bn of goods and imported almost €104bn. Exports of Chemicals & Related Products accounted for 62% of total exports, with a value of almost €103bn. The US was the largest single export partner with exports of €52bn. The biggest import country in 2021 was the UKs.

Covid-19 Impact

According to a release in June, while overall labour productivity in 2020 increased by 14.1%, labour productivity was down -56% in Transport and -9% for Accommodation & Food, two of the sectors most impacted by Covid restrictions. The Accommodation & Food Service Activities sectors employed 29% fewer people in 2022 than in 2021.

Retail Sales in October 2022 were 3.2% higher when compared with February 2020 (pre-pandemic). The largest volume increases for the period were Clothing, Footwear & Textiles (+24.6%), Pharmaceuticals, Medical & Cosmetic Articles (+24.1%), and Electrical Goods (+12.0%).

One in seven enterprises said they experienced an increase in sales via websites or apps in 2022 due to the pandemic. More than one-third (35%) of enterprises received orders via websites or apps from customers located in Ireland in 2022.

Travel

Circa 9.1m passengers passed through Ireland’s main airports between April and June 2022, which was 13% lower when compared with the same period in 2019. During the same period, Dublin airport handled 84% of all flights (55,490), while Cork handled 7% of all flights (4,820).

In December, the CSO reported that public transport journeys now match pre-pandemic numbers. The number of bus journeys outside Dublin exceeded pre-pandemic 2019 levels while car traffic count data remained only slightly below 2019 figures.

Agriculture Prices

The price of fertilisers experienced the largest increase of all agri inputs in 2022, with prices increasing by an average of 141%. With a reduction of 19% in the volume of fertilisers used on Irish farms. As a result, the cost of fertilisers was estimated to have increased by 97% to €1.2bn.

Crops and Livestock

The total number of dairy cows increased by 2.4% to 1.6m in 2021, while the total number of cattle increased to 7.4m. Sheep numbers rose by 1.6% to 5.6m, while pig numbers increased by 7.1% to 1.7m.

The amount of land used to grow the three main cereals of winter wheat, winter oats, and winter barley all saw significant increases: winter wheat up 20,800 hectares (ha) or by almost 59%, winter oats up 5,600 ha or 68%, and winter barley up 16,100 ha or by 31%.