Finance
Irish factory activity grows at fastest pace in over three years, PMI shows
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 1, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 1, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Irish manufacturing activity surged in June, with PMI reaching 53.7. Employment and purchasing increased, while backlogs fell, indicating strong growth.
DUBLIN (Reuters) -Irish manufacturing activity grew at the fastest pace in more than three years in June as the sector brushed off concerns about global trade, hired more staff and increased purchasing, a survey showed on Tuesday.
The AIB Ireland Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 53.7 from 52.6 in May, marking the highest reading since May 2022 and staying above the 50.0 threshold separating expansion from contraction for the sixth successive month.
The increase was driven by a sharp increase in employment, with the rate of job creation reaching its strongest level since June 2022. Respondents attributed the rise to greater workloads and long-term expansion plans.
Purchasing activity surged, with the rate of growth also hitting a more than three-year high, as firms aimed to rebuild inventories amid rising demand and longer supplier delivery times.
Despite this, backlogs of work fell for the fourth month in a row, suggesting a lack of pressure on business capacity and while new export orders continued to decline, they came close to returning to growth after a big dip in May.
Looking ahead, manufacturers expressed optimism about future growth prospects, with 44% of respondents predicting an increase in production volumes over the next year, despite concerns over US tariffs and global economic uncertainty.
Ireland's finance ministry and central bank recently cut their economic growth forecasts for the year on global trade concerns. As a member of the EU, Ireland currently faces tariffs of 10% on around a quarter of its goods exports to the U.S.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
The AIB Ireland Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 53.7 in June, up from 52.6 in May.
The increase was driven by a sharp rise in employment and purchasing activity as firms aimed to rebuild inventories amid rising demand.
Manufacturers expressed optimism, with 44% predicting an increase in production volumes over the next year despite concerns over US tariffs.
They recently cut their economic growth forecasts for the year due to concerns about global trade.
New export orders continued to decline but were close to returning to growth, indicating mixed signals in the export market.
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