Ireland: Industrial production falls at a softer clip in December
Latest reading: Industrial production declined 0.4% in seasonally adjusted month-on-month terms in December, following a 0.7% drop in the previous month.
Relative to the previous month’s data, readings in December improved for the modern sector (+0.6% in seasonally adjusted month-on-month terms vs -0.7% in November) and the traditional sector (+3.1% vs -4.2% in November). The modern sector’s output tends to be volatile—even more so now as U.S. tariffs wreak havoc on trade flows—due to the presence of multinational-dominated industries, such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals and computers and electronics.
In annual terms, industrial production increased a seasonally adjusted 2.7% in December, slowing sharply from its 10.0% rise in November and marking its weakest pace in 13 months.
Accordingly, in 2025 as a whole, industrial output returned to growth, expanding 17.9% after a 5.4% contraction in 2024, recording the strongest performance in four years.