Irish economy surges 4.8% in 2014, fastest in EU: data
Irish GDP soared 4.8% in 2014, after nation emerged from an international bailout in late 2013
DUBLIN (AFP) - Ireland s economy powered ahead at the fastest rate in the European Union last year, as the eurozone nation staged a strong recovery after exiting its bailout programme, data showed Thursday.
Irish gross domestic product soared 4.8 percent in 2014, after the nation emerged from an international bailout in late 2013, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said in a statement.
That was far higher than the EU average of 1.3 percent and the eurozone average of just 0.9 percent.
The economy had expanded by just 0.2 percent in 2013, which was unchanged from the prior estimate.
Ireland enjoyed strong growth after it became the first of the financially-rescued eurozone countries to exit its bailout programme following deep cuts in state spending, hefty tax rises, structural reforms and the sale of state assets.
Ireland has seen its "economic recovery accelerate" in 2014, deputy prime minister Joan Burton declared in response to the bright data.
Crisis-hit Ireland was rescued by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund with an 85-billion-euro bailout in November 2010.
The former "Celtic Tiger" economy was ravaged by the global financial crisis, the bursting of a domestic property bubble, and the collapse of its banking sector.
Ireland s economy crashed in 2008 after a decade of almost double-digit growth fuelled by a cheap credit and a booming construction and property sector in what became known as the Celtic Tiger.
On a more downbeat note, the CSO also revealed Thursday that the Irish economy experienced a sharp slowdown in the final three months of 2014.
The economy expanded by just 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, after 0.4-percent growth in the previous three months.
The European Commission also forecasts Ireland s economy will be the fastest growing in the EU again this year with growth of 3.5 percent.
The Dublin government s official 2015 growth forecast stands at 3.9 percent.
