The final quarter of 2024 saw a marked expansion of business activity in Dublin.
The latest PMI survey from S&P Global, shows that activity in Dublin’s private sector in Q4 2024 continued to expand with the rate of growth accelerating to its fastest since Q2 2023. The headline rate stood at a strong 54.7, up from the Q3 rate of 52.8 and significantly higher than the 51.9 level seen at the same period the previous year (Q4 2023). Dublin recorded a faster increase in activity than the rest of Ireland (52.0) which was down from last quarter’s rate of 52.7 but still remained in expansionary territory.
For the second consecutive quarter, all three sectors contributed to the expansion in Dublin’s business activity. Activity in the services (55.1) and construction (59.6) sectors, continued to drive growth in the capital with both growing quicker than Q3 2024. While manufacturing production increased (52.7), it did so at a softer rate than the previous quarter (53.7). In the rest of Ireland, the services sector (55.9) led growth while manufacturing (49.4) and construction (49.9) contracted slightly as they dropped below the 50 point mark that denotes expansion.
The New Orders Index remained in steady expansion mode in Q4 2024. At 53.4 it was at the same level as the previous quarter and considerably better than the previous year’s contractionary level of 49.4. In line with the last quarter, Q4 saw new business again increase more quickly in Dublin than in the rest of Ireland (51.0). One slight concern would be the pace of job creation, which slowed to the weakest in four years in Dublin and at 50.4 indicated only a marginal increase. The rest of Ireland (50.5) saw employment rise at a similar pace to that seen in Dublin.
Commenting on the PMI, Andrew Harker, Economics Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence said:
Dublin’s private sector ended 2024 in buoyant fashion with output growth the strongest for a year-and-a-half, and was therefore well set for a positive start to 2025. The expansion was broad based in terms of sectors, but particularly strong in the services and construction categories. One word of caution is provided by employment rising only marginally despite the strong increases in new orders and business activity. If growth is to be sustained at an elevated level, firms will need to be able to access sufficiently skilled candidates to expand capacity and support customer needs.
