Ireland is a small, modern, trade-dependent economy. Ireland was among the initial group of 12 EU nations that began circulating the euro on 1 January 2002. GDP growth averaged 6% in 1995-2007, but economic activity has dropped sharply since the onset of the world financial crisis, with GDP falling by over 3% in 2008, nearly 7% in 2009, and less than 1% in 2010. Ireland entered into a recession in 2008 for the first time in more than a decade, with the subsequent collapse of its domestic property and construction markets. Property prices rose more rapidly in Ireland in the decade up to 2007 than in any other developed economy. Since their 2007 peak, average house prices have fallen 47%. In the wake of the collapse of the construction sector and the downturn in consumer spending and business investment, the export sector, dominated by foreign multinationals, has become a key component of Ireland's economy. Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry and services. In 2008 the COWEN government moved to guarantee all bank deposits, recapitalize the banking system, and establish partly-public venture capital funds in response to the country's economic downturn. In 2009, in continued efforts to stabilize the banking sector, the Irish Government established the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) to acquire problem commercial property and development loans from Irish banks. Faced with sharply reduced revenues and a burgeoning budget deficit, the Irish Government introduced the first in a series of draconian budgets in 2009. In addition to across-the-board cuts in spending, the 2009 budget included wage reductions for all public servants. These measures were not sufficient. In 2010, the budget deficit reached 32.4% of GDP - the world's largest deficit, as a percentage of GDP - because of additional government support for the banking sector. In late 2010, the former COWEN Government agreed to a $112 billion loan package from the EU and IMF to help Dublin further increase the capitalization of its banking sector and avoid defaulting on its sovereign debt. Since entering office in March 2011, the KENNY government has intensified austerity measures to try to meet the deficit targets under Ireland's EU-IMF program. Ireland achieved moderate growth in 2011 and cut the budget deficit to 10.1% of GDP, although the recovery is expected to slow in 2012 as a result of the euro-zone debt crisis.

Data cover general government debt, and includes debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intra-governmental debt; intra-governmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment. Debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions.

This is the European Central Bank's rate on the marginal lending facility, which offers overnight credit to banks in the euro area

$118.3 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$124.5 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

See entry for the European Union for money supply in the euro area; the European Central Bank (ECB) controls monetary policy for the 17 members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); individual members of the EMU do not control the quantity of money circulating within their own borders

$291.1 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$260 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$892.3 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$983.4 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$35.36 billion (31 December 2011)

$33.72 billion (31 December 2010)

$29.88 billion (31 December 2009)

Barley, potatoes, wheat; beef, dairy products

Pharmaceuticals, chemicals, computer hardware and software, food products, beverages and brewing; medical devices

9.911 billion cu m (1 January 2011 est.)

Machinery and equipment, computers, chemicals, medical devices, pharmaceuticals; food products, animal products

US 22.3%, UK 16.2%, Belgium 15.3%, Germany 7.1%, France 5.7%, Switzerland 4.2% (2011)

Data processing equipment, other machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum and petroleum products, textiles, clothing

UK 39.8%, US 13%, Germany 7.8%, Netherlands 5.8% (2011)

$1.703 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$2.115 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$2.352 trillion (30 September 2011)

$2.283 trillion (31 December 2010)

$261.3 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$222.6 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$223.1 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$345.7 billion (31 December 2010)