Growth in Ireland's domestic economy during the first three months of 2026 was revised on Thursday to 0.3% quarter-on-quarter from 0.6% previously while the much more volatile gross domestic product (GDP) was marked down to -7.0% from -12.1%.
With Ireland's large multinational sector often distorting GDP, officials prefer to use modified domestic demand (MDD) to gauge the strength of the economy. MDD has grown strongly in recent years, including by 4.7% in 2025, also revised down on Thursday from an initial reading of 4.9%.
GDP, which is used to calculate Ireland's share of euro zone activity, rose by a lower than first estimated 8% in 2025. The jump was driven by a huge rise in pharmaceutical exports to the U.S., mainly due to tariff-related stockpiling that began to unwind late last year and led to the big first quarter fall.