Key Facts and Figures on Ireland

Ireland consistently tops the tables in attracting international companies for foreign direct investment.  We have set out just a few of the rankings which show why Ireland is the location of choice for foreign direct investment, such as the favourable corporate tax regime, the ease of doing business, the pro-business environment, educational achievement…

Key facts and figures:


  • 1st for FDI and corporate tax regime (Global Innovation Survey)
  • 1st destination globally for jobs by inward investment per capita (IBM 2010 Global Location Trends Report)
  • 1st globally for most-highly employable graduates (European Commission Study 2010)
  • 2nd most attractive country globally for FDI (National Irish Bank/fDi Intelligence Inward Investment Performance Monitor 2010)
  • 3rd in Europe in terms of ease of doing business (World Bank
  • 6th for GDP per capita ahead of the US (8th), France (14th), Singapore (19th) and the UK (21st) (The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2010)
  • 9th best place in the world in which to conduct business (World Bank Report 2010)
  • 8 out of the top 10 ICT companies, 8 out of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies and 15 of the top 20 medical devices companies have operations in Ireland
  • The value of Irish domiciled investment funds had reached an all high time of €964 billion as at the end of December 2010 – up nearly a third (29 per cent) on the same time last year from €748 billion. Some €914 billion worth of assets held in non Irish domiciled funds is serviced in Ireland (Central Bank)
  • Nearly 1,000 multinational corporations have selected Ireland as their strategic European base
  • The number of projects into Ireland increased by 15% in 2010, with a corresponding increase in the rate of job creation (National Irish Bank/fDi Intelligence Inward Investment Performance Monitor 2010)
  • William Fry advise the largest portion of all current Irish-domiciled Exchange-Traded Funds (Lipper, 2010)

Key Contacts

David Carthy Partner

Brendan Cahill Partner

Martin Phelan Tax Partner with William Fry Tax Advisors Ltd

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