Ireland is the most expensive country in the Euro Area
Recent data published by Eurostat showed that Ireland’s price level for consumer goods and services had risen to 42% higher than the EU average last year, and was the second most expensive in the entire EU, just behind Denmark (43%) and the highest in the Euro Area. While the most recent data shows that inflation is easing, and in HICP terms, is below the current Euro Area rate, there are areas of concern where inflation is proving sticky and for a small globalised export-orientated economy such as Ireland, further price level increases is a worry for competitiveness. Indeed, while the recent IMD world competitiveness yearbook does place Ireland among the most competitive economies in the world it also highlights concerns about the price level here and also the infrastructure deficit compared to our peers.
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