Along with several other countries, the Republic of Ireland is recently emerging from a period of very high inflation. In the space of two years the
in Ireland increased from -1.5 percent in October 2020 to 9.2 percent in October 2022. For the year as a whole, the
in 2022 was over eight percent, by far the highest rate of inflation for several years. Since 2022, however, Ireland's inflation rate has returned to more usual levels. In May 2024, Ireland's overall inflation rate stood at 2.6 percent while for the year as a whole, the inflation rate is expected to average out at around 2.4 percent, and stabilize at around two percent in the coming years.
Cost of living struggles continue for Irish residents
While inflation has receded since the Autumn 2022 peak, rising prices and general cost of living concerns are still among the
main issues facing people in Ireland. As of April 2024,
rising prices, inflation, or the cost of living was seen by 40 percent of people as one of the top two issues facing the country, although this is down from 65 percent in July 2022. This roughly corresponds with when
energy and
food inflation was rising sharply in Ireland, generally the two main outgoings for households. Although the slowdown in price increases has provided some relief to Irish households, approximately 37 percent of Irish residents advised they were only just
getting by financially, with 15 percent finding it quite difficulty, and nine percent finding it very difficult. As for what people thought were the
main reasons for cost of living pressures, 81 percent blamed the state of the global economy, with just 49 percent blaming workers demanding pay rises.
Causes of the global inflation surge
A variety of factors contributed to the
global inflation crisis which lasted approximately from 2021 through to 2023, although there are enough after-effects to argue it is still ongoing as of 2024. The first component of the crisis was the COVID-19 pandemic. Ireland, like many
other countries introduced fiscal measures to stimulate the economy, and protect jobs and incomes. Such measures were effective at preventing a wider labor market crisis, with Ireland's
unemployment rate peaking at 7.6 percent in April 2021 and falling soon afterwards. By this point however, although demand for goods and services had stabilized somewhat,
global supply chains were struggling to meet the pent-up demand. At the end of 2021,
food prices were also rising sharply, driven by global conflicts, poor weather, and surging
fertilizer costs. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, made this precarious situation much worse. Almost overnight, the world lost access to
Ukraine's agricultural exports, while Europe cut itself off from its
main energy supplier. The months after the invasion were arguably the peak of the inflation crisis as Europe scrambled to reorient the sources of its
energy imports, and Ukraine gradually managed to get its agricultural exports back on the global market via the
Black Sea Grain Initiative.
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Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date
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