EY is forecasting that the Republic of Ireland’s domestic economy will grow by 2.7% this year, using a measurement which strips out the distorting impacts of multinational companies.
That compares to exceptional growth of almost 5% in 2025.
Dr Loretta O’Sullivan, chief economist at EY Ireland, said: “Last year saw a very strong performance by the Irish economy, beating all forecasts, and it is only to be expected that this would unwind somewhat in 2026.
“Combined with the impact of the conflict in the Middle East on the global energy market and the world economy, we are projecting more moderate but still decent growth this year, something many of our peer nations will not be expecting.”
One caveat to these forecasts is they are made against a backdrop of extreme uncertainty.
There are a lot of things which could go dramatically wrong in the world economy which would overtake the assumptions in economic models.
