Economy - Employment & unemployment - CSO - Central Statistics Office

EU: Employment rates by sex

2.14 EU: Employment rates by sex, 2013

% of population aged 15-64
Country	Persons	Males	Females	Gender differential
Sweden	74.4	76.3	72.5	3.8
Netherlands	74.3	78.7	69.9	8.8
Germany	73.3	77.7	68.8	8.9
Denmark	72.5	75.0	70.0	5.0
Austria	72.3	77.1	67.6	9.5
United Kingdom	70.8	75.6	65.9	9.7
Finland	68.9	69.9	67.8	2.1
Estonia	68.5	71.4	65.7	5.7
Czech Republic	67.7	75.7	59.6	16.1
Luxembourg	65.7	72.1	59.1	13.0
Latvia	65.0	66.8	63.4	3.4
EU	64.1	69.4	58.8	10.6
France	64.1	67.9	60.4	7.5
Lithuania	63.7	64.7	62.8	1.9
Slovenia	63.3	67.1	59.2	7.9
Belgium	61.8	66.4	57.2	9.2
Cyprus	61.7	67.0	56.9	10.1
Portugal	61.1	64.0	58.2	5.8
Malta	60.8	74.1	47.0	27.1
Ireland	60.2	64.6	55.9	8.7
Poland	60.0	66.6	53.4	13.2
Slovakia	59.9	66.4	53.4	13.0
Romania	59.7	66.8	52.6	14.2
Bulgaria	59.5	62.1	56.8	5.3
Hungary	58.4	64.3	52.8	11.5
Italy	55.6	64.8	46.5	18.3
Spain	54.8	59.2	50.3	8.9
Croatia	52.5	56.5	48.5	8.0
Greece	48.8	57.9	39.9	18.0

Iceland	81.1	83.2	79.0	4.2
Switzerland	79.6	84.6	74.4	10.2
Norway	75.4	77.3	73.5	3.8
Turkey	49.5	69.5	29.6	39.9
Macedonia	46.0	54.5	37.3	17.2
Source: Eurostat LFS, CSO QNHS

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress, 2013 Table 2.14 (XLS 12KB)

The employment rate in Ireland was 60.2% in 2013, the tenth lowest in the EU and well below the EU average of 64.1%. The highest employment rate in the EU was in Sweden at 74.4% while the lowest was in Greece at 48.8%.
Male employment rates are higher than female rates in all EU countries, with the smallest difference in Lithuania at 1.9 percentage points and the largest in Malta at 27.1.
The male employment rate in Ireland was 8.7 percentage points above the female rate in 2013. This represented a significant narrowing since 2004, when the male rate, at 75.7%, was 19.6 percentage points ahead of the female rate of 56.1%, (see graph).
The employment rate in Ireland for those aged 15-64 rose from 65.9% in 2004 to 69.1% in 2007 before falling sharply over the next five years to 58.8% in 2012. However there was a small increase to 60.2% in 2013 and a further small increase to 61.3% in 2014, (see graph).
The male employment rate in Ireland was stable over the 2004 to 2007 period at about 76% but declined steeply over the next four years to 62.4% in 2012, before increasing to 64.6% in 2013 and rising again to 66.3% in 2014.
The female employment rate increased from 56.1% in 2004 to 60.6% in 2007 before it dropped to 55.2% in 2012, followed by slight rises to 55.9% in 2013 and 56.4% in 2014.

	males	females	persons
2004	75.7	56.1	65.9
2005	76.6	58.2	67.5
2006	77.7	59.1	68.5
2007	77.5	60.6	69.1
2008	75.4	60.4	67.9
2009	66.8	57.6	62.2
2010	63.9	56	60
2011	62.8	55.6	59.2
2012	62.4	55.2	58.8
2013	64.6	55.9	60.2
2014	66.3	56.4	61.3

EU: GDP in PPS per hour worked and per person employed

2.15 EU: GDP in PPS per hour worked and per person employed, 2013¹

		EU27=100
Country	GDP in PPS:
Country	per hour worked	per person employed
Luxembourg	177.0	163.9
Ireland	122.4	135.5
Belgium	132.9	127.3
France	128.7	116.0
Sweden	116.8	114.5
Austria	115.1	113.4
Spain	109.5	111.2
Denmark	128.9	111.0
Italy	101.8	108.8
Netherlands	129.2	108.8
Finland	105.4	107.1
Germany	126.4	107.0
EU 28	99.9	99.9
United Kingdom	97.6	99.4
Greece	74.7	92.7
Cyprus	81.6	91.8
Malta	66.9	91.7
Slovakia	76.5	82.6
Slovenia	86.0	81.1
Croatia	:	80.1
Portugal	65.3	76.7
Lithuania	66.4	74.6
Poland	59.9	74.3
Czech Republic	66.6	71.9
Hungary	61.5	70.6
Estonia	61.4	70.0
Latvia	56.9	66.9
Romania	45.1	51.7
Bulgaria	43.2	43.4

Norway	182.5	156.7
Switzerland	:	114.9
Macedonia	:	56.6
Source: Eurostat
¹ 2012 data used for Luxembourg and Malta for GDP per hour worked and 2011 data used for Macedonia for GDP per person employed.

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress, 2013 Table 2.15 (XLS 12KB)

Productivity in Ireland was 35.5% higher than the EU27 average in 2013, when measured using GDP in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) per person employed.
As Irish employees work longer hours, productivity per hour worked is lower, at 22.4% above the EU27 average.
Ireland had the second highest productivity rate among EU states in 2013, after Luxembourg, when measured using GDP per person employed.
When measured using GDP per hour worked, Irish productivity was the seventh highest in the EU, after Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, France and Germany.
The thirteen new EU member states, along with the United Kingdom, Greece and Portugal, have productivity rates below the EU average.

EU: Unemployment rates by sex

2.16 EU: Unemployment rates by sex, 2013

% of labour force
Country	Persons	Males	Females	Gender differential
Austria	4.9	4.9	4.9	0.0
Germany	5.3	5.6	5.0	0.6
Luxembourg	5.9	5.4	6.4	-1.0
Malta	6.4	6.5	6.3	0.2
Netherlands	6.7	7.1	6.3	0.8
Czech Republic	7.0	5.9	8.3	-2.4
Denmark	7.0	6.7	7.3	-0.6
Romania	7.3	7.9	6.6	1.3
United Kingdom	7.5	8.0	7.0	1.0
Sweden	8.1	8.2	7.9	0.3
Finland	8.2	8.8	7.5	1.3
Belgium	8.4	8.7	8.2	0.5
Estonia	8.6	9.1	8.2	0.9
France	9.9	10.0	9.7	0.3
Slovenia	10.1	9.5	10.9	-1.4
Hungary	10.2	10.2	10.2	0.0
Poland	10.3	9.7	11.1	-1.4
EU	10.8	10.8	10.8	0.0
Lithuania	11.8	13.1	10.5	2.6
Latvia	11.9	12.6	11.1	1.5
Italy	12.2	11.5	13.1	-1.6
Bulgaria	13.0	13.9	11.8	2.1
Ireland	13.9	15.9	11.4	4.5
Slovakia	14.2	14.0	14.5	-0.5
Cyprus	15.9	16.6	15.2	1.4
Portugal	16.5	16.4	16.6	-0.2
Croatia	17.3	17.7	16.8	0.9
Spain	26.1	25.6	26.7	-1.1
Greece	27.5	24.5	31.4	-6.9

Norway	3.4	3.6	3.2	0.4
Switzerland	4.4	4.3	4.5	-0.2
Iceland	5.4	5.6	5.1	0.5
Turkey	8.8	8.0	10.6	-2.6
Macedonia	29.0	29.0	29.0	0.0
Source: Eurostat LFS

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress, 2013 Table 2.16 (XLS 10KB)

The unemployment rate in Ireland in 2013, at 13.9%, was the seventh highest in the EU and above the EU average of 10.8%. Austria had the lowest unemployment rate in the EU, with a rate of just 4.9% while Greece had a rate of 27.5%.
Sixteen EU countries, including Ireland, had higher male than female unemployment rates in 2013, with Ireland having the second largest gender differential in the EU: 15.9% of males and 11.4% of females were unemployed.
The unemployment rate in Ireland was 4.6% in 2004, having been significantly higher in the 1990's. Over the following four years the rate remained fairly stable and then increased to 5.7% in 2008, (see graph).
The rate of unemployment then more than doubled in 2009 to 12.2% and increased again in 2011 to 14.6% and peaked at 15% in 2012. Since then, the unemployment rate dropped to 13.9% in 2013 followed by a further decrease to 11.8% in 2014.

	EU28	Ireland
2004	9.2	4.6
2005	8.9	4.7
2006	8.2	4.6
2007	7.2	4.8
2008	7	5.7
2009	8.9	12.2
2010	9.6	13.9
2011	9.6	14.6
2012	10.5	15
2013	10.8	13.9
2014		11.8

EU: Long-term unemployment rates by sex

2.17 EU: Long-term unemployment rates by sex, 2013

% of labour force
Country	Persons	Males	Females	Gender differential
Austria	1.2	1.2	1.1	0.1
Sweden	1.5	1.7	1.3	0.4
Finland	1.7	2.1	1.3	0.8
Denmark	1.8	1.6	2.0	-0.4
Luxembourg	1.8	1.7	1.9	-0.2
Germany	2.4	2.6	2.2	0.4
Netherlands	2.4	2.6	2.2	0.4
United Kingdom	2.7	3.2	2.2	1.0
Malta	2.9	3.4	2.5	0.9
Czech Republic	3.0	2.5	3.7	-1.2
Romania	3.4	3.6	3.2	0.4
Estonia	3.8	4.2	3.4	0.8
Belgium	3.9	4.0	3.7	0.3
France	4.1	4.2	4.1	0.1
Poland	4.4	4.0	4.8	-0.8
Hungary	5.0	5.0	4.9	0.1
EU	5.1	5.2	5.1	0.1
Lithuania	5.1	5.5	4.6	0.9
Slovenia	5.2	4.9	5.5	-0.6
Latvia	5.8	6.6	4.9	1.7
Cyprus	6.1	6.5	5.6	0.9
Italy	6.9	6.5	7.5	-1.0
Bulgaria	7.4	8.1	6.6	1.5
Ireland	8.1	10.3	5.3	5.0
Portugal	9.3	9.4	9.1	0.3
Slovakia	10.0	10.0	9.9	0.1
Croatia	11.0	11.3	10.6	0.7
Spain	13.0	12.5	13.5	-1.0
Greece	18.6	16.3	21.5	-5.2

Norway	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.1
Iceland	1.0	1.1	0.9	0.2
Turkey	1.9	1.4	3.0	-1.6
Source: Eurostat LFS

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress, 2013 Table 2.17 (XLS 12KB)

The long-term unemployment rate (those unemployed for a year or more) in Ireland was 8.1% in Ireland in 2013 and was the sixth highest in the EU. The average rate in the EU was 5.1%.
The long-term unemployment rate for men in Ireland was 10.3% in 2013, compared to a rate of 5.3% for women. At EU level the rates for women and men were very similar.
The long-term unemployment rate in Ireland was fairly stable at around 1.5% between 2004 and 2008 but it increased to 2.9% in 2009 and then more than doubled to 6.4% in 2010. The rate continued to increase over the next two years to stand at 9.2% by 2012, (see graph).
However the long-term unemployment rate decreased in 2013 to 8.1% and fell again to 6.8% in 2014, (see graph).
The EU long-term unemployment rate was 4.3% in 2004 and fell to 2.6% in 2008. In 2009 the rate rose to 3% and has continued to rise each year since then to stand at 5.1% in 2013.

Show Graph - 2.17 Ireland and EU: Long-term unemployment rates, 2004-2014

	Ireland	EU
2004	1.5	4.3
2005	1.5	4.1
2006	1.5	3.7
2007	1.4	3.1
2008	1.6	2.6
2009	2.9	3
2010	6.4	3.9
2011	8.2	4.1
2012	9.2	4.7
2013	8.1	5.1
2014	6.8

EU: Population aged 18-59 living in jobless households

2.18 EU: Population aged 18-59 living in jobless households, 2009-2013^1,2

	% of target population
Country	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Czech Republic	6.7	6.7	6.3	6.5	6.3
Austria	7.3	7.2	7.1	7.1	7.4
Luxembourg	7.3	6.7	7.2	6.5	7.6
Malta	8.2	7.5	7.0	7.2	7.6
Germany	9.4	9.1	8.4	8.2	8.1
Netherlands	6.0	7.2	7.1	7.3	8.4
Slovakia	8.2	9.2	8.7	8.4	8.6
Estonia	10.1	11.9	9.5	9.4	8.7
Cyprus	5.6	5.9	6.2	7.5	9.2
Latvia	10.1	12.4	11.2	10.5	9.4
Denmark	8.3	9.5	9.9	10.2	9.5
Slovenia	7.5	8.3	8.9	8.6	9.6
Finland	9.7	9.5	9.4	9.3	9.7
Poland	10.2	10.4	10.1	10.1	10.4
France	10.4	10.3	10.3	10.5	10.6
Sweden	11.3	10.9	10.4	11.1	10.7
Romania	10.9	11.0	11.7	10.9	10.8
Portugal	6.8	7.4	8.4	10.0	10.9
United Kingdom	11.5	11.9	11.9	11.4	11.0
EU	10.1	10.5	10.6	10.9	11.2
Hungary	13.1	12.9	12.5	11.6	11.2
Lithuania	12.6	14.3	13.0	12.5	11.9
Belgium	12.8	12.5	12.9	12.7	12.9
Croatia	11.2	12.1	12.7	13.8	12.9
Italy	10.4	11.0	11.1	11.7	13.1
Bulgaria	9.7	12.0	13.3	13.6	13.3
Ireland	12.7	14.6	15.6	15.9	14.7
Spain	10.7	11.8	12.9	15.1	15.9
Greece	8.4	10.3	13.7	17.6	19.6

Turkey	17.4	15.5	13.6	13.8	13.4
Macedonia	18.8	19.2	19.6	18.9	16.1
Source: Eurostat LFS
¹ This indicator is calculated as the share of persons aged 18-59 who are living in households where no one works. Households containing only students aged 18-24 are not included (See Appendix 1).
² See Appendix 1 for details on breaks in series for this table.

Open in Excel: Measuring Ireland's Progress, 2013 Table 2.18 (XLS 10KB)

Ireland had the third highest proportion in the EU of persons aged 18-59 living in jobless households in 2013. About one in seven (14.7%) persons in Ireland lived in a jobless household, below Greece at 19.6% and Spain at 15.9%.
The EU average proportion of persons aged 18-59 living in jobless households was 11.2% in 2013 and the lowest rate was in the Czech Republic at 6.3%.
The proportion of the population aged 18-59 living in jobless households in Ireland was stable over the 2004-2008 period at about 8 to 9%. However the proportion increased sharply in 2009 to 12.7% and continued to rise over the following three years to reach 15.9% in 2012. There was a small decline to 14.7% in 2013.

Show Graph - 2.18 Ireland and EU: Population aged 18-59 living in jobless households, 2004-2013

	Ireland	EU
2004	8.6	10.4
2005	8.3	10.3
2006	7.9	9.8
2007	7.9	9.3
2008	9	9.2
2009	12.7	10.1
2010	14.6	10.5
2011	15.6	10.6
2012	15.9	10.9
2013	14.7	11.2

Show Map - 2.18 EU: Population aged 18-59 living in jobless households, 2013

Go to next chapter>>> Economy - Housing

Measuring Ireland's Progress 2013

Economy - Employment & unemployment

EU: Employment rates by sex

EU: GDP in PPS per hour worked and per person employed

EU: Unemployment rates by sex

EU: Long-term unemployment rates by sex

EU: Population aged 18-59 living in jobless households

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