Economic Profile of Dublin

Demographics

  • The population of the Greater Dublin Area is 2.1 million as of 2022 Census, accounting for approximately 40.5% of the total population of Ireland.
  • While the population of Dublin County is estimated to be approximately 1.5 million as of 2022.
  • The distribution of growth since the 2016 Census has greatly favoured the East, with population growth from the 2016 to the 2022 Census markedly higher than the national average in Fingal (~12%), Meath (13.2%), Kildare (11.4%), and Wicklow (9.4%).
  • The Greater Dublin Area hosts urban centres with the lowest average age. Saggart (30.4) and Balbriggan (33.6) were among the lowest average age towns for their respective classifications as per Census 2022.
  • Meanwhile, latest data shows that the local authorises with the lowest average ages are Fingal (34.3), Kildare (34.9), Meath (35.2), and South Dublin (35.5).
  • Of the 32 Electoral Divisions that had over 10,000 people per km2 in 2022, 25 were in Dublin, five were in Cork, one in Waterford and one in Limerick.
  • Meanwhile, the top five towns (1,500 people or over) in terms of population density are all located in County Dublin. They are Kinsealy-Drinan, Balbriggan, Rathcoole, Lusk, and Donabate respectively, ranging from 8,401 to 5,177 persons per sq km.

Economic Activity and Taxation

  • Dublin accounts for €157 billion of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, which equates to 42% of the national figure.
  • Dublin has a Gross Value Added per person equalled to €105,842, with a national index of 149.1 equating to approximately twice that the level of the national average.
  • Dublin has the highest level of disposable income in Ireland at €27,686, 18% above the national average, which continues the divergence witnessed over the last three years.
  • While the latest data shows that the Greater Dublin Area accounts for more than half of Gross Value Added nationally.
  • Dublin’s Purchasing Managers Index which tracks business activity in the capital stands at 55.5, which is markedly higher than the level indicating growth or contraction (50), while also being higher than the national average 52.6.
  • Total tax revenue collected from the Greater Dublin Area in 2022 equalled €41.058 bn, this equates to slightly under 60% (58.4) of the total tax revenue collected per 2022.
  • The Greater Dublin Area collected €12.043 bn in corporation tax (CT) receipts in 2022, a slightly over 53% share of national CT receipts per 2022.

 

Employment and Labour Market

  • As of Q3 2023, there are 950,000 persons in employment in Dublin, with approximately 170,000 commuting from surrounding areas - namely the Mid-East. Accounting for 36% of those employed in the country.
  • While Ireland has the highest take up of hybrid working in the EU, Dublin has the highest concentration of those availing of hybrid working as 54% of those working usually working from home are based within the Greater Dublin Area.
  • Regarding those who work from home less than half of time, the Greater Dublin Area has an upward trending share – rising from 46% in Q1 2022 to 50% in Q1 2023.
  • National unemployment was 4.1% in Q1 2023 which is the lowest rate since 2001, while the Dublin rate was 5.1% in Q1 2023 remaining at or close to full employment.
  • The Dublin region has seen the biggest decrease in unemployment in the last year with 4,700 people being employed who were previously unemployed.
      

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

  • Dublin is home to:
    • The top 5 global software companies; 
    • 9 of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies.
    • Half of the world’s top 50 banks;
    • 250 global financial institutions;
    • 12 of the world’s top 20 insurance companies;
    • 18 of the world’s top 25 med tech companies.
    • The top 4 global aviation lessors.
  • In terms of the Greater Dublin Area, the Dublin region is crowned fDi’s European small region of the year for the fifth consecutive year, while also ranking first in business friendliness and economic potential.
  • Additional ranks by fDi Intelligence included Dublin ranked 3rd for European overall cities of the future behind London and Amsterdam, and above Paris and Madrid. Within these rankings Dublin placed 2nd in terms of FDI strategy alone.
  • Dublin is the economic powerhouse driving Ireland’s competitiveness abroad; as the 2023 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking places Ireland second, behind Denmark.
  • Dublin is ranking among the FDI elite of Europe, specifically in the IT, BioTech and service sectors.
  • Dublin is the leader of capital invested in the software and IT services sectors in Europe, with an estimated €94bn. While ranking joint top with Paris in investment in biotechnology by project numbers.
  • In the first half of 2023, 139 foreign investments were won, slightly over 50% of which were located in Dublin (72).

Tourism and Transport

  • Just over 28.1 million passengers travelled through Dublin Airport in 2022, representing a 231% increase on 2021 activity and a recovery of 85% relative to 2019 levels.
  • Dublin holds the highest occupancy rates in the country with a rate of 83%, with a year-on-year increase of 1%.
  • As for the average daily rate of accommodation, Dublin ranked as the 4th most expensive at €178.05 – with Clare, Mayo and Kildare being the most expensive respectively.
  • The use of public transport in Dublin by means of bus, rail and tram has experienced positive quarter on quarter growth since Q1 2021. Dublin bus remains the most frequently used form of public transport with over 38 million trips taken in the first quarter of 2023, with positive growth since Q4 2020.
  • The Luas occupies the second spot with approximately 11.9 million trips taken in the first quarter of 2022, unlike Dublin Bus, its number of trips has fallen since this time last year.
  • Latest figures by Dublin Port show 5.2% YoY growth, with 36.7M of gross tonnage handled, with Dublin Port accounting for 59% of all vessel arrivals in Irish ports in 2022.
  • Whilst Dublin Port also facilitated the transport of approximately 1.7 million passengers accompanied by 500,000 tourist vehicles and approximately 90,000 trade vehicles in 2022.

 

Education and Talent

  • Latest figures show that 47% of students in Ireland attend further education are in Dublin (including Maynooth University), while 45% of graduates in Ireland are from institutions in Dublin.
  • The latest figures show that slightly over 43% of those who graduate in Ireland are working in Dublin with the second highest proportion working in Cork (13.8%), with approximately 9% working abroad.
  • Approximately 62% of persons aged 25-64 in Dublin attained a third level education, this is higher than the national average of 53% and markedly higher than the Midland counties of 46%.
  • Ireland’s employment rates of recent graduates are among the highest in the EU, 87.2% higher than the EU average 82.4% than five percentage points.
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