Now Playing The Band The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

GDP growth masks mass economic shift

Further decline in traditional industry

Figures show the Island's economy continued to grow last year - but its structure is changing at an unprecedented rate.

GDP reached £4.51 billion in 2014/15, based on a five per cent rate of overall growth for that period.

Thirty-two years of successive growth - that's the headline figure from the latest National Accounts report, released this week by the Cabinet Office.

Look beyond the bold numbers and you'll see that boils down to a radical shift in the Island's economic composition.

e-Gaming has grown by a startling 22 per cent, now representing just short of a fifth of the whole economy.

That's followed closely by the insurance sector, which grew to 14.9 per cent of income in the period.

But it's a different story for our traditional industries - agriculture shrank by 21 per cent, manufacturing is down 19 per cent, and transport and communications contracted by a quarter.

But it seems like good news for tourism - which has cut recent losses to create a 79 per cent surge in growth since 2013.

The Chief Minister is cautiously optimistic - calling the figures 'reassuring' but pointing out the harsh reality of a now 'two-speed' modern economy.

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