Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources 2022

Distribution by Percentile

As is typical in earnings distributions, a relatively small number of high earners result in a positively skewed earnings distribution of employees in Ireland. In a positively skewed earnings distribution, mean earnings are greater than median earnings as the mean is increased by those higher earners. In such cases median earnings (the middle earner in the economy or sector) may be a more reflective figure of the average earnings of employees in the economy or sector.

Figure 3.1 below shows the weekly earnings at each percentile on the earnings distribution for 2022. It also highlights the mean and median earnings for that year.

In 2022, the median weekly earnings were €670.90 (half of all jobs earned more than this amount and half earned less). Mean weekly earnings in 2022 were €856.21. Figure 3.1 below illustrates that almost 65.0% of employees earned less than the mean, while just over 35.0% earned more than the mean.

Distribution by Sex

Figure 3.2 presents the distribution of employments by weekly earnings and sex. It shows a greater proportion of female employees at the lower end of the distribution, when compared to male employees.

Distribution by Age Group

Figure 3.3 presents the distribution of employees by weekly earnings and age group. The 15-24 years age group has the highest proportion of employees at the lower end of the distribution. As age increases, the distribution of earnings flattens out, meaning a smaller proportion of employees at the upper end of the distribution. This trend continues up to the 50-59 years age group, where there is a small reversal of the trend, while for the 60 years and over age group there is more significant movement in the proportion of employments at the lower end of the distribution.

Distribution by Decile

Table 3.1 below shows the earnings at every 10th percentile in each of the years 2015 to 2022.

Figure 3.4 and Table 3.2 below, present the percentage change in earnings (year on year) at every 10th percentile.

For 2021-2022 there were increases in all percentiles except for the 10th percentile which saw a drop of -0.9%. When considering these results, it should be taken into account that the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions applied in response to it had a significant impact on the labour market across 2020, 2021 and 2022. Earnings statistics for this period and comparisons with earlier years are impacted by changes in the composition of the labour market. The level of earnings has also been impacted by COVID-19 income support schemes in place since 2020.

Distribution by Economic Sector

Figure 3.5 and Table 3.3 show that, in 2022, 23.1% of all employments earned less than €400 per week. Employment earnings between €400 and €800 per week accounted for 37.5% of all employments. More than a third (39.4%) of all employments earned more than €800 per week while 9.8% of employments earned €1,600 or more per week.

The economic sector with the highest proportion of employments earning less than €400 per week was Accommodation & Food Services (58.4%), while the Information & Communication sector (36.7%) had the highest proportion of employments earning €1,600 or more per week.

Distribution by Economic Sector and Decile

Table 3.4 below presents the proportion of employments for each main economic sector by decile for the year 2022. The deciles are calculated based on the earnings of all employments.

The sectors with the highest proportion of employments whose earnings were in the bottom decile of earnings were Accommodation & Food Services (29.0%) and Arts, Entertainment, Recreation & Other Services (25.0%).

At the other end of the earnings distribution, the sectors with the highest proportion of employments whose earnings were in the top decile of earnings were Information & Communication (37.0%) and Financial, Insurance & Real Estate (23.0%).