rom double-digit figures in
the late 1970s to 3.8% in 1991. In 1987, after years of deficits, the
balance of payments was brought into the black. Unemployment, however,
remains a serious problem. A 1991 unemployment rate of 20.4% placed Ireland
along with Spain as the countries with the worst jobless records in Western
Europe.
GDP:
purchasing power equivalent - $39.2 billion, per capita $11,200; real growth
rate 1.3% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.8% (1991)
Unemployment rate:
20.4% (1991)
Budget:
revenues $11.4 billion; expenditures $12.6 billion, including capital
expenditures of $1.6 billion (1992 est.)
Exports:
$27.8 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
chemicals, data processing equipment, industrial machinery, live animals,
animal products
partners:
EC 74% (UK 34%, Germany 11%, France 10%), US 8%
Imports:
$24.5 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
commodities:
food, animal feed, chemicals, petroleum and petroleum products, machinery,
textiles, clothing
partners:
EC 66% (UK 41%, Germany 9%, France 4%), US 14%
External debt:
$14.8 billion (1990)
Industrial production:
growth rate 3.0% (1991); accounts for 37% of GDP
Electricity:
4,957,000 kW capacity; 14,480 million kWh produced, 4,080 kWh per capita
(1991)
Industries:
food products, brewing, textiles, clothing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals,
machinery, transportation equipment, glass and crystal
Agriculture:
accounts for 11% of GDP and 15% of the labor force; principal crops -
turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat; livestock - meat and dairy
products; 85% self-sufficient in food; food shortages include bread grain,
fruits, vegetables
Economic aid:
donor - ODA commitments (1980-89), $90 million
Currency:
Irish pound (plural - pounds); 1 Irish pound (#Ir) = 100 pence
Exchange rates:
Irish pounds (#Ir) per US$1 - 0.6227 (March 1992), 0.6190 (1991), 0.6030
(1990), 0.7472 (1989), 0.6553 (1988), 0.6720 (1987)
Fiscal year:
calendar year

:Ireland Communications

Railroads:
Irish National Railways (CIE) operates 1,947 km 1.602-meter gauge,
government owned; 485 km double track; 38 km electrified
Highways:
92,294 km total; 87,422 km paved, 4,872 km gravel or crushed stone
Inland waterways:
limited for commercial traffic
Pipelines:
natural gas 225 km
Ports:
Cork, Dublin, Sha