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The Irish economy suffered another decline in the first three months of the year, numbers on Wednesday showed. The Central Statistics Office said gross domestic product shrunk 2.0% on-quarter in the first three months of 2026. ‘This was driven by a decrease in the multinational dominated sector of industry in Q1 2026,’ CSO analyst Enda Behan said. GDP had fallen 3.8% in the fourth quarter from the third and was flat in the third from the second. In the second quarter of 2025, the Irish economy had shrunk 0.6%, after a 7.7% surge in the first quarter of 2025. On-year, GDP was 6.0% lower in the first three months of 2026, having risen 2.2% in the fourth quarter. It represent the first year-on-year decrease since the second quarter of 2024. Separate numbers from the CSO showed consumer price inflation was steady in April According to a flash estimate, the harmonised index of consumer prices rose 3.6% on-year, in line with March’s growth rate. ‘Looking at the components of the flash HICP in Ireland for April 2026, energy prices are estimated to have increased by 2.6% in the month and risen by 15.5% since April 2025. These increases in energy prices may have been influenced by recent events in the Middle East. The collection of prices for April 2026 took place between 13-23 April which means that some fuel prices would have been collected before the extra government measures on fuel costs were introduced,’ CSO analyst Anthony Dawson commented. ‘The HICP excluding energy and unprocessed food prices, is estimated to have risen by 2.3% since April 2025.’ Additionally, the CSO said retail sales rose 0.2% in March from February. They had fallen 0.6% in February from January. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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