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: Ireland is a small, modern, trade-dependent
economy with growth averaging a robust 9% in 1995-99. Agriculture,
once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry, which
accounts for 39% of GDP and about 80% of exports and employs 28% 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. Over the past decade, the Irish government has implemented
a series of national economic programs designed to curb inflation,
reduce government spending, and promote foreign investment. The
unemployment rate has been halved; job creation remains a primary
concern of government policy. Recent efforts have concentrated on
improving workers' qualifications and the education system. Ireland
joined in launching the euro currency system in January 1999 along
with 10 other EU nations. The construction and other sectors are
beginning to press against capacity, and growth is expected to drop in
2000, perhaps by 1 percentage point.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $73.7 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 8.4% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $20,300 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 5%
industry: 39%
services: 56% (1998)

Population below poverty line: 10% (1997 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 27.3% (1997)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.2% (1999)

Labor force: 1.77 million (1999 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: services 63%, industry 28%, agriculture
9% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: 5.5% (1999)

Budget:
revenues: $25.3 billion
expenditures: $20.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $2
billion (1999)

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

Industrial production growth rate: 10% (1999 est.)

Electricity - production: 19.715 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 94.12%
hydro: 4.63%
nuclea