The economy grew just under 3 per cent in the first nine months of last year, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) this morning.
GNP grew by 2.8 per cent to the end of September when compared with the first nine months of the pervious year.
GDP climbed 1.1 per cent, and the output of the economy, as measured by GDP, declined by 0.1 per cent between the third quarter of 2002 and 2003, while GNP increased by 3.6 per cent in constant prices in the same period.
The profits of foreign-owned enterprises are excluded from GNP however GNP is also affected by other income flows between residents and non residents the timing of which can be very variable on a
quarterly basis.
The nine-month comparison is therefore a better indicator.
Consumer spending rose by 1.8 per cent compared with the same period of 2002 while capital investment showed a decline of 2 per cent in same period.
The volume of output of industry increased by 1.2 per cent compared with the same period of last year. Output of other services was up 2.6 per cent.