Ireland has ranked ninth in a list of more than 30 countries as a location for private business to thrive, representing a drop of two places from last year but is up from 14th place two years ago.
Among the categories where Ireland improved its standing in this year's study include the 'start-up ecosystem', and 'education, skills and talent' where the country went from 12th to 9th place. "Much of this significant slip in ranking for the macroeconomic metric stemmed from the costs of living crisis and cost increases being felt most strongly during 2023 in the private businesses sector," the report noted.