Since 1994, the economy has expanded at an annual average rate of around 8%. Expressed another way, output at the end of 2000 will be around 70% higher in real terms than at the beginning of the current phase of strong growth. To put this into perspective, the annual growth rate of the Irish economy averaged around 3½% between 1960 and 1993.
The buoyant economic conditions of recent years have facilitated a significant improvement in living standards - as measured by GDP per capita - relative to the EU average.