The CSO’s Measuring Ireland’s Progress report identifies key trends in the country over a period of time and compares it against other EU countries.
According to the report, long-term unemployment in Ireland fell from 7.9pc in 2013 to 1.1pc in 2023 – below the EU average of 2.1pc.
Ireland had the eleventh highest employment rate during this period at 74pc, up from 62pc in 2013.
Unemployment among men increased from 66pc in 2013 to 78pc in 2023. For women, it rose from 57pc in 2013 to 69pc in 2023.
The report also found that Ireland had the ninth highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at €510.0bn and the tenth highest Gross National Income (GNI) at €388.4bn in 2023 among the 27 EU countries.
However, it also found that Ireland had higher prices than many other EU countries – it had the second highest prices for goods and services, which stood at 37pc above average.
Among the other countries compared, Ireland was just behind Denmark and followed by Luxembourg.
It added that consumer prices had increased between 2020 and 2024 – standing at 18pc, while the EU average is 22pc.
Ireland’s exports of goods and services made up a significant part of its GDP and was the second highest in the EU after Luxembourg.
“The progress indicators used in this report are chosen to provide an overall view of the social, economic, environment, education and health situation in Ireland, and how Ireland compares in these areas with other European countries,” said statistician Aideen Sheehan.
All sectors in Ireland saw labour productivity increase from 39.4pc to 79.9pc above the EU average between 2014 and 2015, which the report noted was due to globalisation.
A small portion of the Irish population aged between 18 and 59 lived in jobless households. It was a total of 6.6pc, below the EU average of 8.1pc.
The percentage of people living in such households saw a steady decrease in Ireland since 2013.
The report is divided into five main chapters that speak about Irish society, economy, environment, education and health.
It also includes other insights into how Ireland has progressed including how the Irish population had grown at the third fastest rate in the EU in the last 10 years.
