As many people nurse their hangovers after a day of Saint Patrick’s day excess, it’s sobering to remember that the little Emerald isle is not just an excuse for a Guinness, but a veritable tech hub of innovation and scientific prowess, which rivals and even surpasses many much larger, richer nations.
For example, did you know that:
• The US is now Ireland’s largest Export Market
• In 2009/2010, $27 bn in exports moved from Ireland to the US (Ireland is the 10th largest investor in the USA)
• Total exports of goods to the US from Ireland between Jan and Nov 2010 were approx €20bn or $28bn. Imports from US in the same period were approx €6bn or $8.4bn.
• Ireland is now the 10th largest supplier to the US.
• Indigenous Irish exports to the USA were up 12% in 2010
• 36 million claim Irish ancestry (12% of the USA population)
• 350 CEO’s of Fortune 500 claim Irish ancestry
• 220 Irish companies employ over 82,000 Americans across all 50 US states in over 1,300 locations throughout the US
• As of year-end 2009, the stock of U.S. foreign direct investment in Ireland stood at $166 billion
• Ireland is the 13th largest investor in the US (approx $32.6bn) according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Also, according to stats from Enterprise Ireland, you might be interested to discover that Ireland is:
• the 10th largest investor in the US, over 220 Irish companies employ more than 80,000 people across 2,630 US locations.
• 2nd largest software exporter in the world.
• Home to 8 out of the top 10 Global Pharmaceutical companies, 50% of world’s leading financial services companies, and 15 of the top 25 medical device companies.
• No.1 in the world in the field of molecular genetics and genomics for the quality of our publications (Source: LabTimes based on data from Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators.)
• No.3 in the world for the quality of our research in immunology
• No.8 in the world for the quality of our research in Materials Science (Source data: Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators).
• 4th largest exporter of beef in the world
15% of world’s Baby infant formula is made in Ireland
50% of the worlds aircraft on lease is managed from Ireland
€1.4 trillion in funds are managed in Ireland
According to the World Competitiveness report 2010 – Ireland is,
1st for corporate taxes
4th for availability of skilled labour
4th for having a culture that is open to new ideas
6th for labour productivity
7th for the availability of financial skills
7th for flexibility and adaptability of people
• Ireland ranked first in Europe for most competitive location for R&D investment. (Source: Mazars Review of Global R&D Incentives 2010)
• Ireland ranked second most globalised economy in the world (E&Y Globalisation Index in cooperation with Economist Intelligence Unit, Jan 2011)
Ireland is a highly entrepreneurial society…..
• Ireland is a highly entrepreneurial society; established entrepreneurs make up 9% of Ireland’s population. Ireland has a higher proportion of established entrepreneurs than Germany (4%) the UK (6.1%) and the US (8.3%) and about the same level as Finland; (9.2%) (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report 2008 – 2009 figures not available for Ireland).
• In 2011 Ireland ranks 9th in the world (171 countries) for Ease of Doing Business and 11th in the world for Ease of Starting a Business. (World Bank Ease of Doing Business Rankings 2011)
For more interesting facts and figures about Ireland, check out Reasons as to why Ireland rocks from a telecoms innovation perspective
