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Celtic Tiger

Historical GDP per capita development of Ireland and the UK
Ireland GDP
  Real GDP (chained 2010 Euros)
  Nominal GDP

The "Celtic Tiger" (Irish: An Tíogar Ceilteach) is a term referring to the economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. The boom was dampened by a subsequent property bubble which resulted in a severe economic downturn.

At the start of the 1990s, Ireland was a relatively poor country by Western European standards, with high poverty, high unemployment, inflation, and low economic growth.[1] The Irish economy expanded at an average rate of 9.4% between 1995 and 2000, and continued to grow at an average rate of 5.9% during the following decade until 2008, when it fell into recession. Ireland's rapid economic growth has been described as a rare example of a Western country matching the growth of East Asian nations, i.e. the 'Four Asian Tigers'.[2]

The economy underwent a dramatic reversal from 2008,[3] affected by the Great Recession and ensuing European debt crisis, with GDP contracting by 14%[4] and unemployment levels rising to 14% by 2011.[5] The recession lasted until 2014. In 2015, the economy posted a growth rate of 6.7% marked the beginning of a new period of strong economic growth.[6]

  1. ^ Alvarez, Lizette (2 February 2005). "Suddenly Rich, Poor Old Ireland Seems Bewildered". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  2. ^ "The luck of the Irish". The Economist. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  3. ^ [1] [dead link]
  4. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ [2] [dead link]
  6. ^ "Doing the maths: how real is Ireland's economic growth?". Irish Independent. 3 January 2016.

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