"This comes on top of the remarkable pandemic performance which saw GDP growth of 13.6% year on year in 2021, bringing Ireland's cumulative GDP growth to 33% since 2019, the last year the pandemic was not in the data," the stockbroker said.

Goodbody recently predicted a growth of 11.2% in 2022, followed by a growth of 2.3% in 2023. However, when those figures are adjusted for domestic demand, the stockbroker expects a more modest growth of 0.7%.


Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said: "While some volatility is likely between this flash release and the detailed release in March, it is broadly in line with what my Department projected for 2022 at Budget time and reflects the continued strength of the multinational sector in Ireland last year.

"I am encouraged that despite numerous headwinds, our labour market continues to perform strongly with close to record-low unemployment rate of just 4.3% in December.”


Commenting on the state of the international economy amid fears of a global downturn, the minister added: "The IMF signalled last week that it will make a modest upward revision to its growth forecasts for this year, which are due out tomorrow, owing to reduced price pressures, increased fiscal supports and the re-opening of the Chinese economy following its zero-Covid policy.”