Galway Chamber and Grant Thornton Launch Galway Economic Monitor

Galway road traffic volumes surpass pre pandemic levels 

Employment in West region reaches new peak

Galway Chamber and Grant Thornton have launched the Galway Economic Monitor – a new publication tracking all the latest key economic indicators for the county.

The publication will be produced twice a year, with the data to be tracked and contrasted from publication to publication as well as on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis depending on the source of the information.  The data analysis is conducted by Grant Thornton. 

Highlights from the first monitor included details on the labour market, housing and transport. 

Average daily road traffic volumes in Galway surpassing pre pandemic levels and reaching 92,942 (SA) in April, were among the details included in the first edition of the monitor.

These traffic numbers represented an 8% increase year on year, while peak morning traffic volumes were up by 2.2% over April 2022, and peak evening traffic was also up 2.3% year on year. The monitor also highlighted that average daily traffic volumes reached a new high in March, hitting 113,414 journeys (SA) per day.

The Galway Economic Monitor also included the latest employment data, highlighting a reduction of people in Galway on the Live Register in March. The figures show that 8,785 people in the county were signing on that month, a 3.8% drop from the previous month.

There is also positive news about the total number of people employed in the wider region, with the latest data showing that 225,700 people were employed in the West in Q4 2022 - a new peak for the area. This was up 3.9% on the previous quarter and represented a jump of 11,848 on the same period the previous year. 

On the housing front, the Galway Economic Monitor also shows there were a total of 269 residential property transactions (SA) in Galway in January. This was slightly down (-0.3%) on the number of sales in January 2022.  There are also details on house prices in the West region which were down by 1.2% in January on the previous month but up 9.6% year on year.

Residential rents in Galway also hit a new peak in Q3 2022, according to the latest data, with the average rent reaching €1,269 per month. This was up by 0.9% on the previous quarter.

The Galway Economic Monitor was launched at the inaugural West in the Capital – Galway Chamber Dublin Reception which took place in Bank of Ireland, College Green this week. 

Speaking about the publication of the Galway Economic Monitor, Kenny Deery, CEO of Galway Chamber said, “This is an important tool which we believe will be of use to all of those concerned with public policy and the economic performance of Galway. For the first time we will have a data driven report which will bring together all the information tracking the key indicators in one location

“It will effectively act as a dashboard for how Galway’s local economy is performing.  It will shine a light on the local aspects of success as well as those elements which may require further attention.  We hope it will help provide a greater understanding of both the challenges and opportunities facing the city and county over the years ahead,” he said.

Aengus Burns, Partner with Grant Thornton said, “We are delighted to be working with Galway Chamber on the Galway Economic Monitor, which will provide a regular overview of the key economic data for Galway.  As anyone in business or directing public policy knows, when you’re making decisions, you need to have all the information available.  The data matters and that data should be easily accessible. That is what we are seeking to achieve with this new publication and our hope is that it will become a useful tool for all the key decision makers throughout Galway and the wider region over time.”

The inaugural edition of the Galway Economic Monitor is available on the Galway Chamber website – www.galwaychamber.com