5.2 Economic Strategy for City & County

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5.2 Economic Strategy for City & County

County Kilkenny has a rich diversity of mainly indigenous enterprises across the full spectrum of industry sectors and is not overly reliant on large employers.  From the profile of the County in Chapter 3 it can be seen that there were 4,635 businesses operating in County Kilkenny (in 2018), with 20,321 people employed. The Retail and Wholesale Sector with 909 businesses employed the largest percentage of people (at c23%), the Manufacturing Sector the next highest proportion (at c20%) and the Hospitality Sector was the third highest employer (at c17% - c42% higher than the national average employed in Hospitality.  The following industry sectors are identified as being key to Kilkenny’s future economic development, especially in terms of employment growth:

  • Financial Services
  • Technology
  • Manufacturing
  • Agriculture & Food
  • Creative Industries
  • Tourism & Hospitality (See Section 5.4 Tourism)
  • Third Level Education

In addition to the above sectors, the retail sector is critical, especially in terms of promoting the vitality and viability of town centres. In this regard, this Development Plan includes a Retail Strategy which sets out clear evidence-based policies and objectives.

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