Preliminary figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the economy shrank at a record rate last year. The CSO said gross domestic product fell by 7.1% from 2008, while gross national product plunged by 11.3%. As GDP includes profits made by US multi-nationals based here, many economists prefer to focus on gross national product (GNP). Figures for the final quarter of last year showed no sign of a let-up in the economy's decline, with output for both GDP and GNP down 2.3% from the third quarter. In Q4, there were annual falls of 5.1% in GDP and 10.4% in GNP. Consumer spending in Q4 was 5.2% lower than a year earlier, a slightly smaller fall than in the three previous quarters. But capital investment dropped by more than 28% from a year earlier and industrial output was down 6%. Construction output fell by 32.3%. In a statement, the Minister said that GDP was 'roughly unchanged' in the fourth quarter from Q3 when the impact of the collapse in house building was excluded. 'Today's figures are consistent with my Budget day projections for this year and as I outlined, I expect that the economy will resume growing in the second half of the year,' he said.