Interview: Wexford student wins ‘Young Economist of the Year’ competition

A Wexford student has won a national award…

Fifth year Wexford CBS student, Hasibullah Zia who was the overall winner of the Young Economist of the Year 2025. It was a national competition, encompassing 500 secondary students from all across Ireland.

The Young Economist of the Year (YEOTY) is a competition for secondary school students (1st – 6th years), where they can apply their knowledge and what they have learnt in school to tackle day-to-day issues going on around the globe. Basically, it’s the equivalent to The Young Scientist, but obviously it is more related to economics.

On Friday, following the announcement, we caught up with Hasib to further talk us through his recent achievements on the national stage.

Along with collecting an award for the Young Economist of the Year, Hasib also collected a second award for the “Best use of Data” at the awards ceremony held in Sligo on Thursday afternoon.

For Hasib, the achievement was one that filled him with immense pride:

“I felt incredibly proud. It was amazing being one of the very first people in my school’s history to win such a competition in the first try. Seeing others read and talk about my project also made me glad as I never thought someone would actually like it,” he told Wexford Weekly.

Regarding the evaluation progress, it’s a mixture of methods. Hasib talked us through the overall process and how he emerged as the winner. It wasn’t just about a submission; instead, it was a multi-faceted approach. It was about research, analysis, their exhibition and how they answered any follow-up questions.

“A student picks a topic that they want to research on. They find relevant data, analyse them, evaluate them, and eventually, submit it in digital format to the YEOTY organisers in order to be processed. If you win a Gold or Silver (We won a gold in our case) you are expected to give an exhibition of the project. You create some posters and display them. Judges come around and then start questioning your findings. Gold/Silver/Bronze and the special category award winners are picked beforehand; however, the overall winners are picked on the day, after the exhibition – based on their answers and how they presented the project to the judges. You must win a gold medal first, then win a special category award, to be able to qualify for winning the overall award,” he explained.

Hasib’s project, analysis, findings and exhibition clearly stood out among the rest of the competition. So, what did he research?

“The award is given by CSO (Central Statistics Office) officials. I researched about Multinational Corporations in Ireland and how our reliance on them can create inequality economically, socially, and environmentally. I used variety of sources, from CSO data, to World Bank and so on,” he told Wexford Weekly.

It would be remiss of us not to ask Hasib about some of his findings. After all, his research and findings was central to the project and his overall victory.

Key findings:

Positives:

– MNCs employ over 301,223 people directly. Based on my estimates, additional 300,000+ jobs are created indirectly.
– They have paid over €20 B alone in 2022 in corporation tax. 87% of total Corporate Tax!

– MNCs dominate exports (123% of GDP) – €548B, 2022

Negatives:

– Wage Inequality: Male-dominated sectors like ICT pay 37.8% more than domestic firms (€134k vs. €67k average), while women hold only 34.4% of managerial roles and face a 9.6% pay gap.

– Exploitation: MNCs generated €97B in profits (2022) but paid only €16.2B in wages, creating a wealth extraction loop where profits are repatriated instead of reinvested locally. This undermines fair wages and equitable growth, deepening income inequality as domestic workers bear the burden of public services funded by volatile MNC taxes.
– Tax volatility: Reliance on 10 firms for 53% of corporate tax (2023) risks €2B/year losses under OECD reforms, threatening funding for healthcare and education. This instability disproportionately harms rural regions with fewer public resources, amplifying regional inequality
– Regional disparities: 72% of FDI flows to Dublin/Cork (40% population), leaving western counties with 8.2% population decline and lower wages (€22k vs. Dublin’s €32k disposable income). This entrenches an east-west divide, depriving rural areas of investment and opportunities
– Career Inequality: MNCs prioritize STEM roles, driving a 51% increase in STEM enrolments since 2010 while humanities decline by 22%. This narrows career pathways, forcing 41% of graduates to pursue extra qualifications for entry-level MNC jobs, side-lining non-STEM sectors like agriculture and arts
– Energy consumption: Data centres use 18% of electricity (2023), projected to hit 30% by 2030, derailing climate targets