30 January 2024 – The Irish accountancy profession - comprising the accountancy sector, as well as accountants working across the wider economy - made a €19.8 billion contribution to the Irish economy in 2022, a new report published today by Oxford Economics for the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB), has revealed.
The report further found that the profession supported over 83,000 jobs in Ireland and generated €1.8 billion in tax revenues in 2022. The profession’s contribution to the Irish economy has increased by 53% since this report was last compiled in 2017.
The profession in the UK and Ireland made a combined €114 billion contribution to the UK and Irish economies in 2022, supporting almost 1 million jobs, and generating €13.7 billion in tax revenues.
Expenditure on external accounting services by businesses in Ireland reached €3.4 billion, and almost £30 billion (£29.3 billion) in the UK in 2022. In both markets, the report estimated that the IT sector was the largest purchaser of accounting services in that year. The same year, the UK also exported £4 billion in accounting services, increasing its share of total UK service exports since 2016 by 0.3% percentage points, despite the changed trading landscape post-Brexit. CCAB said the findings highlight the key role the profession has played supporting businesses over the past five years, helping them to navigate the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit and geo-political crises like the war in Ukraine, as well as the transition to a green economy and new technology.
Julia Penny, CCAB Chair, said
“The significant contributions highlighted in this report underline the value of the accountancy profession to the prosperity of the UK and Ireland. Accountants are playing a key role in driving economic growth: helping millions of businesses to navigate global challenges and opportunities, as well as leading schemes to boost social mobility and access to the profession.
“It’s not surprising to see that contributions have grown during the past five years given the impact of the pandemic and cost of doing business crisis. Demand for our knowledge and skills remains strong, in part thanks to our expanding roles in dealing with a range of non-financial information. I expect accountants to retain a central role as the profession evolves to further help businesses adapt to the climate emergency and technological advances, issues on which our future economic success and stability depend.”
Barry Doyle, Deputy President, Chartered Accountants Ireland said
“The figures published today illustrate just how fundamental the accountancy profession is to Ireland’s economic prosperity, something that can be too easy to overlook. It is very encouraging to see both the continued strong growth in demand for the services of the profession, and the extraordinary growth in the scale of the economic contribution to the Irish economy, up 53% since 2017.
“Behind the headline figures are over 83,000 individuals employed by the accountancy profession in Ireland, driving and servicing FDI and Irish business of all sizes and in every single sector of the economy. Accountants play a role in almost every aspect of our economy and society.”
Stephen Noonan, Head of ACCA Ireland said
“This report highlights the crucial role that the accountancy profession plays in creating a dynamic economy, providing the skillset that supports inward investment, the growth of exports and thriving businesses that create employment across the country.
“As the Irish economy evolves and develops in the months and years ahead, with the growth of the renewable and digital economies, the profession will play a key role in supporting business and organisations adapt and grow to a changing environment. To support that, it is incumbent on both the private and public sector to work in partnership to ensure that we retain and recruit the skillset required which will support long term prosperity.”
The report assesses both the economic and wider social impact of the profession to the UK and Ireland, with quantitative analysis supplemented by case studies which provide a snapshot of the positive contributions that accountants are making in the areas of diversity and inclusion; skills; and sustainability.
CCAB is an umbrella organisation for the UK and Ireland’s leading accountancy bodies - ICAEW, ACCA, ICAS, CIPFA and Chartered Accountants Ireland. Membership of CCAB bodies has grown by 14% since 2017, and these bodies reported more than half a million students registered globally during 2022.
Read the full report to discover the breadth of the accountancy profession’s impact and CCAB’s commitment to driving sustainable growth among the organisations, economies, and communities it serves.
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