The economy of Ireland has been traditionally agricultural. Since the mid-1950s, the nation’s industrial base has expanded, and now mining, manufacturing, construction, and public utilities account for around 36 % of the gross domestic product, while agriculture accounts for only about 10 %. Private enterprise operates in most sectors of the economy. The gross domestic product in 1999 was $93.4 billion.

The republic has a mixed economy. The constitution provides that the state shall favour private initiative in industry and commerce, but, when the necessary private initiative is not forthcoming, the state itself undertakes essential services and promotes development projects. Thus, state-sponsored (“semi-state”) bodies operate the nation's rail and road transport, its television and radio stations, its electricity generation and distribution system, its peat industry, and other major national undertakings. State companies also are active in the fields of air transport and health insurance. The advent of a single European market since the 1980s has promoted many of these enterprises to privatize and become more competitive.

Israel has a technologically advanced market economy with substantial government participation. It depends on imports of crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. contempt limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Israel is largely self-sufficient in food production except for grains. Cuts diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural products are the leading exports. The influx, coupled with the opening of new markets at the end of the Cold War,energized Israel's economy, which grew rapidly in the early 1990s. But growth began moderating in 1996 when the government imposed tighter fiscal and monetary policies and the immigration bonus petered out. Growth was a strong 5.9% in 2000. But the outbreak of Palestinian unrest in late September and the collapse of the BARAK Government - coupled with a cooling off in the high-technology and tourist sectors - undercut the boom and foreshadows a slowdown to 2%-3% in 2001.