County Incomes and GDP 2024

To understand where income is generated, we must look at regional employment figures. The main driver of county income will always be wages and salaries for employees or profits for self-employed, in that respect, we anticipate a strong correlation between the total number of people employed and the disposable income in any one county. The employment figures discussed in this chapter regionalise people according to their place of work, and as a result, the figures below will take into account commuters. In contrast, income figures are regionalised by place of residence.

As shown in Figure 2.1, total employment in Dublin City and County continued to increase with the number of people working in Dublin reaching 969,472 in 2024, a further 3.4% increase on 2023. Employment in the South-West rose by 2.7% and the in Mid-East by 2.1%. The Mid-West region saw the largest increase in employment with a 6% increase on 2023. However, employment in the Midland region fell by 1% in 2024 and the Border region remained on par with 2023. Overall, from 2016 onwards, employment in all regions has trended upwards with the exception of 2020.

The percentage of workers in each county for 2024 is shown in Map 2.1. Over a third (35%) of all persons employed in the state work in Dublin City and County, followed by Cork City and County which account for 12% of all persons employed. The highest proportion of workers reside in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick in that order. Cities in Ireland have the highest proportion of workers due to higher populations and the fact they attract workers from surrounding counties. On the other hand, counties in the Midland and Border regions have the lowest percentage of workers due to low populations and lack of industry in these regions.

Figure 2.2 shows the apparent productivity by county and NUTS 3 region for 2024. Counties and regions have been shown together to help account for counties whose data is suppressed due to confidentiality. Apparent productivity is given as Gross Value Added (GVA) at factor cost over total persons in work. Persons in work and GVA at factor cost are both regionalised by place of work. Apparent productivity was highest in the South-West at €300,492, followed by Dublin at €272,988 and Kildare €170,907. Manufacturing in the South-West and Kildare, as well as, the Information & Communication sector in Dublin contributed significantly to the region's GVA and overall apparent productivity. A large gap emerged between the top three regions and the rest of the country. Aside from the South-West and Dublin all other counties and regions fell below the national average with the lowest apparent productivity observed in Longford at €67,992 and the Border region at €72,290.

Figure 2.3 shows the apparent productivity by NUTS 3 region. Overall, the South-West was the most productive region since 2019, however, apparent productivity in the region has been in decline since 2022 due to decreases in the GVA of Manufacturing over the same period. From 2022 to 2024, apparent productivity in the South-West fell by 19% to €300,492 per person. Dublin, largely influenced by the Information & Communication sector, had the second highest apparent productivity of all regions at €272,987 per person in 2024.

A significant gap exists between the South-West and Dublin and all remaining regions. Apparent productivity in the Mid-West (€124,555) is marginally higher than the Mid-East (€124,385). The least productive regions were the Border (€72,290) and Midlands (€89,872), however, both regions have seen significant growth in apparent productivity since 2019. The Midland and Border region saw a rise of 41% and 26% respectively since 2019.