CSO report measures Ireland's social and economic performance in the EU

According to the ‘Measuring Ireland’s Progress 2010’ report, prices were 18pc above the EU average, with only Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg and Sweden being more expensive. It was an improvement on 2009, however, when Ireland was the second most expensive country after Denmark and prices were 26pc over the EU average.

The report notes that Ireland remained in recession in 2010, with negative growth of -0.4pc. It was the third consecutive year of negative growth. At 32.4pc of GDP, the public balance deficit was “by far” the highest of any EU member state, while government debt increased to just over 96pc of GDP, up from 25pc of GDP in 2007.

Despite this, Ireland had the joint third highest GDP per capita at 25pc above the EU average.

The productivity of the Irish workforce in 2010, measured by GDP per person employed, was just over a third higher than the EU average. The report notes that because Irish employees work longer hours, the productivity per hour worked is relatively lower, but still about 23pc above the EU average.

In 2010, Ireland’s employment rate was below the EU average, and its unemployment rate was the sixth highest rate in the EU.

Population trends

The report reveals that Ireland had the highest proportion of young people in the EU in 2010, and the lowest proportion of old people. The country also had the highest percentage increase in population between 2000 and 2010 in the EU. The rate of natural increase of the population in Ireland was 10.2 per 1,000 in 2009, compared with an EU average of only 1.0. In 2009, Ireland was the only EU country with a fertility rate greater than 2; the EU average was 1.6. The divorce rate in Ireland was 0.7 divorces per 1,000 population in 2009, the lowest rate in the EU.

At 24.2, average class size at primary level in Ireland is the second highest in the EU. However, the early school-leaver rate is better than the EU average. Irish 15 year old students had the joint 17th highest mathematical literacy among participating EU countries in 2009 and were below the OECD average, while reading literacy Ireland was eighth highest and ranked slightly above the OCED average. The proportion of the population aged 25-34 in Ireland that has completed third-level education is the third highest in the EU.

The report reveals that 5.5pc of the population in Ireland was in consistent poverty in 2009, up from 4.2pc in 2008.

Current public expenditure on health care in Ireland averaged €3,234 per person in 2009 (at constant 2010 prices), an increase of more than half on the 2000 level. Life expectancy at birth in Ireland is 76.8 years for males and 81.6 years for females, and these figures are reasonably close to the EU average.

Housing

The report reveals that the number of housing units built rose sharply to peak at almost 90,000 in 2006 before collapsing to 14,600 in 2010, back to the level it was at in 1970. The average value of a new housing loan in Ireland rose from €102,300 in 2000 to €266,400 in 2007 before dropping to €231,600 in 2009.

Crime

Between 2005 and 2009, the number of kidnapping and related offences in Ireland nearly doubled while the number of controlled drug offences increased by nearly two-thirds and the number of weapons and explosives offences increased by more than half. The number of murders/manslaughters recorded in Ireland fell from its peak of 84 in 2007 to 60 in 2009.

Environment

Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions were at 112.1pc of 1990 levels in 2009, which was lower than the Kyoto 2008-2010 target by 0.9 percentage points. The level of acid rain precursor emissions fell from 464.6 SO2 equivalent per 1,000 tonnes of gas emitted in 2000 to 318.1 in 2008, 4pc above the Gothenburg Protocol 2010 target level of 306. According to the report, this decrease is mainly due to lower levels of sulphur dioxide emissions.