The figures recording Ireland's transi-tion from Europe's worst- to its best-performing economy are remarkable. In 1987 Irish GDP per person was 69% of the EU average (adjusted to EU 15); by 2003, it had reached 136%. Unemployment fell from 17% in 1987 to 4% in 2003; and government debt shrank from 112% of GDP to 33% (see chart 2). Annual GDP growth in the decade of the 1990s averaged a tigerish 6.9%; GNP growth, usually a more appropriate measure for Ireland (see box, next page), only slightly less. Perhaps even more impressive, after a downward blip coinciding with the American and, especially, the information-technology (IT) slowdowns in 2001-02, the economy is bouncing back: growth both this year and next is expected to be around 4-5%.
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