Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 12.1% in Quarter 1 (Q1) 2026 (See Editor’s Note below).
Multinational-dominated sectors contracted by 27.1% in Q1 2026 with Domestic Sectors expanding by 0.4%.
Modified Domestic Demand (MDD), a broad measure of underlying domestic activity that covers personal, government, and investment spending, grew by 0.6% in Q1 2026.
Personal spending on goods and services, a key measure of domestic economic activity, increased by 0.6% in Q1 2026.
The Balance of Payments Current Account recorded a surplus of €17.4 billion in transactions with the rest of the world in Q1 2026.
The updated estimated GDP figure for Q1 2026 is -12.1%. This compares with a Preliminary GDP Estimate for Q1 2026 of -2.0% published on 29 April 2026. Note that the updated GDP estimate for Q1 2026 of -12.1% is based on both Expenditure and Output data, and it also includes additional company survey data. The Preliminary estimate was based predominantly on economic Output data. Preliminary estimates are published under the CSO Frontier Series which may use new compilation processes which are under development and/or new or more timely data sources and therefore the results may be subject to revision over time. Publishing outputs under the Preliminary Estimate allows the CSO to provide useful new information to users and receive informed feedback on these new methods and outputs whilst at the same time making sure that the limitations are well explained and understood. A list of our CSO Frontier Outputs is available.
The Q1 2026 Quarterly National Accounts (QNA) and International Accounts (IA) figures published today are provisional and final figures for GDP, GNP, Modified Domestic Demand, and the Current Account Balance will be published as part of the Q1 2026 Final QNA and IA results to be issued in tandem with the Annual National Accounts 2025 results (ANA 2025) later in the year.
| Kieran Culhane | (+353) 1 498 4364 |
|---|---|
| John Sheridan | (+353) 1 498 4258 |
| nat_acc@cso.ie | |
| internationalaccounts@cso.ie |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (04 June 2026) published Quarterly National Accounts and International Accounts results for Quarter 1 (Q1) 2026, following on from the Preliminary GDP Estimates for Q1 2026 issued on 29 April 2026 as a CSO Frontier Series output (See Editor’s Note below).
Summary Results
Assistant Director General with responsibility for National Accounts & Price Statistics, Chris Sibley, said: “In today’s release, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to have fallen by 12.1% in January, February, and March (Q1) 2026.
The globalised Industry sector contracted by 35.0% in Q1 2026 when compared with Q4 2025 while the Information & Communication sector posted a decrease of 2.0% over the same period. Overall, the multinational-dominated sector fell by 27.1% in the quarter.
However, there was continued growth in the domestic economy in Q1 2026. Modified Domestic Demand (MDD) grew by 0.6% in the quarter driven by personal spending which also increased by 0.6% while the non-multinational-dominated sector grew by 0.4% over the same period.”
More detailed analysis of the results is available in the Quarterly National Accounts and International Accounts Quarter 1 2026 statistical releases.