The European Commission has said that Ireland's GDP is projected to contract by 8.5% in 2020. The economy here is then expected to grow by 6.25% in 2021, on the back of the pent-up domestic demand release and the global post-crisis recovery.
This compares with the Commission's earlier forecast of a downturn of 7.9% for this year and a recovery of 6.1% for next year.
In its latest Summer economic outlook, the Commission said that economic activity here is expected to have plunged in the second quarter of the year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated lockdown.
It noted that private consumption is set to be particularly hit, since the quarantine measures here were "long and wide ranging".