Industrial production in Ireland

Ireland's Industrial Production Index measures the level of output in industry, covering manufacturing, mining and energy supply. Published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), it is one of the most closely watched cyclical indicators because it anticipates the economic cycle.

The CSO aggregates the sub-indices of the various industrial branches, weighted by their share of value added, on a base year (index 100). The data are adjusted for calendar and seasonal effects and reported as year-on-year and month-on-month changes (%).

It is tied to the economic cycle and is usually related to business-climate indicators (PMI). In Ireland its reading is peculiar: the heavy weight of multinationals, especially pharmaceuticals and technology, means signals about the domestic economy should be treated with caution.

It is subject to revision and is highly volatile. The dominance of sectors such as multinational pharmaceuticals and chemicals produces sharp jumps driven by global production decisions that poorly represent domestic industrial activity. The modern-sector block is often tracked separately.