THE inaugural Limerick Economic Monitor (LEM) reflects the confidence in Limerick, coming off the back of five years of unprecedented economic growth that has seen over 15,000 jobs created.
Commissioned by Limerick City and County Council and produced by EY-DKM Economic Advisory, the LEM will be the barometer used to track Limerick’s performance against key economic indicators including employment, enterprise, investment, housing, consumer sentiment, and commercial property and will be published twice-yearly.
It will benchmark Limerick’s progress against local and national targets, as per the Limerick 2030 economic and spatial plan, and Project Ireland 2040.
The LEM, which will see Limerick’s economic and fiscal status analysed and tracked, was launched this Wednesday at the new Gardens International office complex in the heart of the city.
Mayor James Collins said the monitor reflects the confidence in Limerick, coming off the back of five years of unprecedented economic growth that has seen over 15,000 jobs created.
“That growth is set to continue with the development of a number of iconic projects in Limerick, including the eagerly anticipated development of the Limerick Twenty Thirty Opera and Cleeves sites, the University of Limerick’s €8 million investment plan for a city centre campus and a number of other large-scale private investments,” he explained.
The findings of the inaugural monitor include a number of key indicators which show Limerick is now firmly on an upward curve. According to the LEM, 15,800 new jobs have been created in Limerick since 2013. In 2018 alone an additional 3,072 jobs were created in the county. Limerick’s Live Register has fallen by 14,000 since October 2010.
The monitor also states maintains that Limerick remains an affordable alternative to Dublin and Cork, where house prices and rents have risen exponentially.
It shows that the number of start-ups in Limerick reached a new high in 2018 with 820 start-ups and a recorded ‘year-on-year’ increase of 14.8 per cent. While investment in Limerick grew between 2017 and 2018 by 46.1 per cent, with new and existing companies having invested a total of €2.2 billion since 2013.
“Limerick is the only Irish city, outside of Dublin, where disposable income is greater than the national average and is at its highest level since 2008. The Limerick Economic Monitor shows we are a city and a region that is competitive, dynamic and a great place to live, work, invest and learn,” the local authority’s Director of Economic Development Pat Daly said.
