"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.”