IDA Ireland has welcomed IBM’s 2011 Global Location Trends Report, which ranks Ireland as the top destination in the world by quality and value of investments. Ireland also ranks as one of the top destinations globally for jobs by inward investment per capita.

The report further highlights that significant growth in foreign investment was achieved in Ireland in the past year and showed a move to higher value investment types and in particular a strong performance in high-value sectors and business activities such as R&D in Life Sciences and high-end electronics.

Compared to the previous year, Ireland saw an increase of almost 30% in both the number of investments and jobs created from foreign investment, higher than the global trend. The report highlights the attractiveness of Ireland as an investment location due to its structural competencies such as a favourable business environment, skills availability and track record of cluster/sector strengths.