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 has continued to increase with the number of people working in Dublin reaching 937,000 in 2023, a further 3% increase on 2022. While the highest concentration of workers exists in Dublin City and County, all NUTS 3 regions experienced growth in employment in 2023. Employment in the South-West rose by 4% and the in Mid-East by 3%. The West and Mid-West regions saw the largest increase in employment with both standing at 5%, however, the lowest rate of increase was seen in the Midland region where employment increased by 0.7%.
Figure 2.1 is largely similar to what is observed in Figure 1.2, the Dublin NUTS 3 region has a significantly higher concentration of workers when compared with all other regions. It is noted that in 2023 the total employment in the South-West is 22% higher than in the Mid-East, however, the South-West is only 8.5% higher than the Mid-East in terms of total disposable income, showing the relationship between income and employment is not entirely proportional. The Mid-West and West are largely on a par with one another, while the lowest number of workers reside in the Midland, Border and South East regions
The percentage of workers in each county for 2023 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. Conversely, 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 compensation of employees (COE) over employee hours worked by for NUTS 2 region by economic sector. Overall, the highest COE per hour (€55 per hour) was observed in the Information & Communication sector in the Easter & Midland region, Financial & Insurance Activities sector in the Southern region and the Professional Admin & Support services also in the Eastern & Midland region. The lowest COE per hour was observed in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing in the Eastern & Midland region (€17 per hour) followed by the Arts, Entertainment & Other Services sector in the Southern region (€21 per hour). COE per hour in the Northern & Western region was generally lower in most economic sectors, with the exception of Public Admin, Education & Health and Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing.
Labour productivity is the main measure of the efficiency of the labour force and is a key indicator for regional economies. Labour productivity is measured as output per hour worked, where output is measured as Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices. A higher measure of labour productivity can indicate that a region or sector is using its labour force more efficiently to produce output. As seen in the Productivity in Ireland 2021 publication, output and subsequently productivity in Ireland is largely influenced by the presence of foreign owned multinational enterprises (MNEs). Productivity rises significantly in regions where foreign-dominated sectors contribute largely to the overall output of the region.
Figure 2.3 shows the labour productivity of each NUTS 2 region by economic sector. The highest productivity was observed in Industry in the Southern region (€469 per hour) followed by Information & Communication in the Eastern & Midland region (€403 per hour). Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing is the least productive among all three regions followed by the Arts, Entertainment & Other Services sector. The most productive sectors for the Northern & Western regions are Industry (€126 per hour), Professional, Admin & Support Services (€64 per hour), followed by the Financial & Insurance sector (€60 per hour).
Figure 2.4 shows the labour productivity in Euro per hour for each NUTS 2 region. Labour productivity in the Southern region was €117 per hour in 2023, the largest of all three regions, followed by Eastern & Midland at €111 per hour and the Northern & Western region at €54 per hour. Productivity decreased in all areas except for the Northern & Western region which saw a 6% increase from 2022. The Southern region experienced the largest decline in productivity, down 12% from 2022, while the Eastern & Midland region saw a 3% decline in 2023.
The decline in productivity is driven by a decrease in GVA in the Southern region and a slowing down of growth Eastern & Midland region. GVA in the Northern & Western region experienced a marginal increase and hours worked remained largely consistent with 2022, resulting in a small increase in productivity.
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