Week Ahead (16 August)

Monday, 16 August - Central Statistics Office to release trade data for June

The Central Statistics Office will release data on goods exports from and imports to Ireland for June today.  The continued impact of Brexit will be monitored as data released by the Irish Maritime Development Office show that roll-on roll-off volumes between Ireland and Britain were down to 355,000 units in the first half of 2021 — 29% lower than in the same period of 2019. 

Tuesday, 17 August - Flash estimates of GDP and employment for EU and eurozone in Q2 2021 to be released

Eurostat will release its latest statistics on GDP and unemployment in the EU and the eurozone on Tuesday.  The release will show economic conditions during the second quarter of 2021, during which Europe ramped up its vaccination drive, battled the Delta variant of Covid-19 and began to reopen its economies.   

Preliminary estimates produced by Eurostat on 30 July said that in the second quarter of 2021, GDP increased by 2% in the eurozone and 1.9% in the EU.  When compared to Q2 of last year, this represents an increase of 13.7% for the eurozone and a rise of 13.2% for the EU.   

Friday, 20 August – UK consumer confidence survey to be released

The market research firm Growth from Knowledge (GfK) will release data on consumer confidence in the UK for July on Friday.  Data from last month showed that consumer confidence rose to -7 in July from -9 in June, the highest level it has reached since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Figures released by the Office of National Statistics last week showed that GDP in the UK is estimated to have increased by 4.8% between April and June 2021.  This was due to services, production and construction output all increasing due to the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.   The largest contributors to the increase in output were wholesale and retail trade, as well as accommodation, food services, activities and education.  Almost all components of expenditure also saw an increase over this period, with household consumption increasing the most.