Irish multinationals’ overseas sales amounted to €256 billion in 2019

The overseas sales of Irish multinationals reached nearly $256 billion in 2019.

Subsidiaries of multinational corporations located in Ireland employ over 1.1 million people, a third of whom are in the United States or the United Kingdom.

A company is owned by Ireland if more than 50 per cent of its controlling interest is in the Republic.

In the UK, sales of Irish affiliates fell 5% to €42.7 billion compared to 2018, with employment increasing by 4% to nearly 125,500.

The US saw an overall improvement, with employment increasing by about 13% or 29,773 to just over 263,000, while sales increased by 8% to nearly €102 billion.

Irish affiliates in Germany, France and the Netherlands accounted for 10.6 percent of Irish affiliate sales abroad, while the three countries also accounted for nearly 7 percent of Irish women working abroad for multinationals.

Germany and France were broadly similar in terms of sales at 4.1% and 4%, respectively, while the Netherlands accounted for 2.5% of sales.

The highest employment growth in Irish subsidiaries is observed in Italy and Canada, with Italy experiencing a 31.1% increase between 2018 and 2019 and a 23% increase in sales over the same period. Canada followed closely behind with employment growth of 26.2 percent and sales growth of 9.3 percent.

The Netherlands, Germany and China saw employment declines in Irish companies, falling by 17.6%, 4.7% and 2.0%, respectively.

Irish subsidiaries employ 38,600 in China, over 34,300 in Germany and just over 16,500 in the Netherlands.