Ireland's economy is now officially in recession.
The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown in Ireland is becoming clearer and clearer as stark figures are published today.
A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth and in Ireland, our GDP fell by just over 6 per cent in April, May and June - the largest quarter on quarter fall ever recorded.
New CSO figures show the construction industry took a hit of 38 per cent - with the transport, hotel and restaurant sector contracting by 30 per cent.
Consumption fell by 19.6 per cent as shops, bars and restaurants were forced to close to curb the spread of the virus.
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said: “The hit was not as severe as many of our trading partners, for instance the UK, euro zone and the US where GDP declined by over 20, 12 and 9 per cent respectively in the same period.”
“Overall the numbers are broadly as expected based on dataflow on the second quarter released over the course of the summer,” Mr Donohoe said.
“ They very much highlight the dual economic impact of the pandemic with net exports positively contributing to GDP in year-on-year terms on the back of robust growth in pharma exports, while the domestic economy suffered a severe hit,” he said.
“ Despite the severity of the national lockdown, a large portion of manufacturers continued to trade and this is reflected in our export numbers,” he said.
“ However many of our jobs-rich domestic sectors were temporarily closed giving rise to the large contraction in domestic demand seen today,” Mr Donohoe said.
