Irish gross domestic product contracted by 0.7% quarter-on-quarter between October and December and stood 3.4% lower than a year ago, according to a preliminary estimate reading published by the Central Statistics Office on Friday.

The government has long cautioned against using GDP to accurately measure economic growth as it is routinely inflated by multinational activity. Its preferred measure, modified domestic demand (MDD), is not included in the early estimates.

GDP is still used to calculate Ireland's share of activity across the euro zone and the preliminary estimate can be subject to sharp revisions. Irish GDP fell by 1.3% year-on-on-year in the first three quarters, while MDD rose by 0.8%. (Writing by Conor Humphries and Padraic Halpin, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)