Ireland was the fifth most expensive EU State in 2013 despite low inflation and the impact of the economic slump, latest CSO figures showed today. Ireland had the smallest increase in inflation in the EU between 2009 and 2013 but prices were 20pc above the EU average, according to the report Measuring Ireland's Progress 2013. Only Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Luxembourg were more expensive, it found. However, this represents an improvement on 2009 when price levels in Ireland were the second highest in the EU at 26pc above the EU average. GDP rose slightly by 0.2pc in 2013 while the public balance deficit, at 5.7pc of GDP, was the fifth largest in the EU but a big improvement on 2010 when it was 32.4pc. Government debt continued to rise in 2013 to 123.3pc of GDP, the fourth highest debt/GDP ratio in the EU, having been 62.2pc in 2009. The number of dwelling units built was just 8,300 in 2013, (below the number built in 1970), having peaked at almost 90,000 in 2006. Employment in Ireland was the tenth lowest in the EU in 2013 while unemployment was the seventh highest in the EU. The number of dwelling units built increased sharply to peak at almost 90,000 in 2006 before collapsing over the next seven years to stand at just 8,300 in 2013, below the level in 1970. The average value of a housing loan in Ireland rose from E171,500 in 2004 to E270,200 in 2008 before dropping by over a third to E174,000 in 2013. Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions were at 107pc of 1990 levels in 2012. This was 5.3pc lower than the Kyoto 2008-2012 target for Ireland. Total greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland fell by nearly 15pc between 2003 and 2012, from 68.5 million tonnes of CO2 to 58.5 million tonnes. The percentage of waste recovered in Ireland rose to 54pc in 2012, from just under a quarter in 2003, and 38pc of waste was landfilled in 2012, a decrease on the 2003 figure of 61pc. The landfill percentage varies widely in EU states, from only 0.5pc in Germany, where recycling and incineration rates are high, to over 80pc in Latvia. For more visit www.businessworld.ie