The Irish economy grew by 5.5 per cent in 2004, according to the latest official estimate of gross national product released today the its highest rate of growth since 2000.
The latest growth figures released by the Central Statistics Office show the corresponding growth rate in gross domestic product for the same period was 4.9 per cent.
GNP is the preferred measure of economic growth as it measures the growth rate of Irish-owned assets and excludes the profits of foreign-owned companies operating in Ireland.
Investment was a star performer in 2004, increasing by 9.2 per cent in real terms largely driven by the housebuilding phenomenon which by 11.7 per cent.
One disappointing aspect of the figures is the sluggish growth in consumption given the strength of he economic upswing. For the year as a whole consumption was 3.2 per cent ahead, which compares to 2.6 in 2003. Economists are expecting a significantly boost in consumption in the next few years as the SSIA money worth €14.5 billion hits the streets.
Net exports increased from €18,991 million in 2003 to €21,254 million in 2004.
The strong performance of software exports in particular aided export growth in 2004. Exports were up 4.4 per cent while imports grew by only 2.7 per cent, which meant that net exports made an important positive contribution to economic growth last year.