Date Last Updated: 26-05-2026
Earnings and Labour Costs Quarterly
The purpose of the Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey (EHECS) is to collect, compile and disseminate series of quarterly and annual earnings and labour costs statistics across economic sectors in Ireland. The output produced nationally from EHECS is the quarterly and annual Earnings and Labour Costs Release, while EHECS also produces data for Eurostat's Labour Costs Survey, Labour Cost Index, Job Vacancy Survey and Short-term Labour Market Business Statistics.
S.I. No 616 of 2025 Statistics (Labour Costs Survey) Order 2025 S.I. No. 107/2021 - Statistics (Job Vacancy Survey) Order 2021
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2020/1197 of 30 July 2020 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 2019/2152 Commission Regulation (EC) No 1216/2003 of 7 July 2003
Quarterly
Individual enterprises in NACE sectors B-T with 3 or more employees.
Annual sampling frame from the Central Business Register is synchronised with a local register towards the end of each year. The local register is also updated on an on-going basis using data received in the EHECS survey and other CSO sources.Variables updated include:employment,contact details, births and deaths and changes in enterprise structure.
State
2008 to 2025
Not applicable
All enterprises in NACE sectors B-T with 50 or more employees and a sample of those with 3 to 49 employees are surveyed each quarter.
6,600
Average weekly earnings, average hourly earnings, average weekly paid hours, average hourly total labour costs, job vacancies, job vacancy rate, public sector employment, public sector earnings
There is wide national usage from other Government Departments, economists and research bodies. International users also access data from Eurostat and the ILO.
Central Statistics Office
Business Statistics
Dr. Niall O' Sullivan (Analysis & Publication), Barry Kelleher (Data Collection)
Statistician
Sabrina Bowen (Analysis & Publication), Barry Noonan (Data Collection). Publication queries: earnings@cso.ie. Survey Collection queries: ehecs@cso.ie and jvs@cso.ie.