Elgin Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [353] (1) 6688777
FAX: [353] (1) 6689946

Flag description: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side),
white, and orange; similar to the flag of Cote d'Ivoire, which is
shorter and has the colors reversed-orange (hoist side), white, and
green; also similar to the flag of Italy, which is shorter and has
colors of green (hoist side), white, and red

@Ireland:Economy

Economy-overview: The economy is small and trade dependent.
Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by
industry, which accounts for 38% of GDP, about 80% of exports, and
employs 27% of the labor force. Although exports remain the primary
engine for Ireland's robust growth, the economy is also benefiting
from a rise in consumer spending and recovery in both construction and
business investment. Since the 1980s, inflation has fallen sharply and
chronic trade deficits have been transformed into annual surpluses.
Unemployment remains a serious problem, however, and job creation is
the main focus of government policy. To ease unemployment, Dublin
aggressively courts foreign investors and recently created a new
industrial development agency to aid small indigenous firms.

GDP: purchasing power parity-$59.9 billion (1997 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 6% (1997 est.)

GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$18,600 (1997 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 8.5%
industry: 38.3%
services: 53.2% (1995)

Inflation rate-consumer price index: 1.6% (1997)

Labor force:
total: 1.52 million (1997 est.)
by occupation: services 62.1%, manufacturing and construction 27.0%,
agriculture, forestry, and fishing 10.0%, utilities 0.9% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate: 11.8% (1997)

Budget:
revenues: $20.6 billion
expenditures: $20.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.2
billion (1997)

Industries: food products, brewing, textiles, clothing, chemicals,
pharmaceuticals, machinery, transportation equipment, glass and
crystal

Industrial production growth rate: 10.1% (1997 est.)

Electricity-capacity: 3.62 million kW (1995)

Electricity-production: 16.586 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity-consumption per capita: 4,672 kWh (1995)

Agriculture-products: turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat;
meat and dairy products

Exports:
total value: $54.8 billion (f.o.b., 1997)
commodities: chemicals, data processing equipment, industri