Employments among new entrants accounted for 8.0% of the total employments in 2024, down from 8.9% in 2023. More than two in five (40.6%) new entrants were aged 15-24 years.
Irish nationals accounted for the largest proportion of new entrants in 2024 at 42.5%, followed by Indian (9.0%) and Ukrainian (5.1%) nationals.
Of the new entrants of Irish nationality, almost two-thirds (64.5%) were aged 15-24 years. Of the nationalities individually listed in this analysis, Irish nationals were the only nationality cohort where the proportion of new entrants aged 15-24 years was larger than that aged 25-64 years.
The sector with the highest proportion of new entrant employments in 2024 was Accommodation & Food Services, in which 19.4% of all employments were represented by new entrants. This compares with Public Administration & Defence where new entrant employments accounted for 1.8% of all employments in the sector.
In 2024, median weekly earnings among new entrant employments stood at €428.58, up 6.3% on 2023 (€403.08). This compares with an annual increase in weekly earnings of 4.5% across total employments.
More than half (55.0%) of the 2023 new entrant cohort were recorded in the same primary employment in 2024, while a further 21.4% were in a different primary employment.
The annual increase in median weekly earnings (13.2%) tended to be least among those who stayed in their primary employment, rising from €450.75 in 2023 to €510.11 in 2024, while those who changed employment recorded an increase of 40.0%.
The following analysis is based on the annual dataset created for the Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (EAADS) release. The EAADS release presents earnings statistics compiled based on administrative data sources. The primary data source is the Revenue Commissioner’s employee tax data (PMOD), which was introduced in 2019. This is linked to the CSO Business Register and other data to provide economic and demographic breakdowns of employee earnings in Ireland.
The term new entrants used throughout this publication refers to individuals who were present on the annual EAADS dataset for the first time during a reference year. For example, new entrants in 2023 refers to individuals who were present on the 2023 annual file, but did not appear on EAADS in 2019, 2020, 2021, or 2022. Similarly, new entrants in 2024 were present on the 2024 annual file, but did not appear on EAADS in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023. New entrant employments refer to employments among individuals considered to be new entrants in a reference year. It is important to note that individuals may have more than one employment, and that secondary employments earning at least €4,000 per annum are included in the analysis.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (10 November 2025) published Earnings of New Entrants to Employment for 2024.
Commenting on the data, Dr Eimear Heffernan, statistician in the Earnings Analysis Division of the CSO, said: “This analysis is based on the Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (EAADS) release, produced by the CSO on an annual basis. The term ‘new entrants’ refers to individuals who did not appear on the annual EAADS file prior to the reference period. For example, new entrants in 2023 refers to individuals who were present on the 2023 annual file, but did not appear on EAADS in 2019, 2020, 2021, or 2022. Similarly, new entrants in 2024 were present on the 2024 annual file, but did not appear on EAADS in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023. In order to coincide with the introduction of PMOD, 2019 was chosen as the starting point for this analysis. New entrant employments refer to employments among individuals considered to be new entrants in a reference year.
Composition of New Entrant Cohort
Employments among new entrants accounted for 8.0% of the total employments in 2024, down from 8.9% in 2023. More than two in five (40.6%) new entrants were aged 15-24 years.
In terms of nationality, Irish nationals accounted for the largest proportion of new entrants in 2024 at 42.5%, followed by Indian (9.0%) and Ukrainian (5.1%) nationals. Of the new entrants of Irish nationality, almost two-thirds (64.5%) were aged 15-24 years. Of the nationalities individually listed in this analysis, Irish nationals were the only nationality cohort where the proportion of new entrants aged 15-24 years was larger than that aged 25-64 years. This is likely to have an impact on the average earnings among new entrant employments recorded for Irish nationals compared with their non-Irish counterparts.
Employment by Economic Sector
The sector with the highest proportion of new entrant employments in 2024 was Accommodation & Food Services, in which 19.4% of all employments were represented by new entrants. This compares with Public Administration & Defence where new entrant employments accounted for 1.8% of all employments in the sector.
The age profile of new entrants had an impact on the economic sector in which they were employed. A larger proportion of employments among new entrants aged 15-24 years (27.5%) were recorded in the Wholesale & Retail Trade sector, compared with those aged 25-64 years (12.3%) in 2024. In contrast, 4.7% of employments among new entrants aged 15-24 years were recorded in Human Health & Social Work, compared with 17.3% of employments among new entrants aged 25-64 years.
Earnings among New Entrants
In 2024, median weekly earnings among new entrant employments stood at €428.58, up 6.3% on 2023 (€403.08). This compares with an annual increase in weekly earnings of 4.5% across total employments. In 2024, median weekly earnings recorded across total employments (€730.89) was 70.5% higher than the corresponding figure for new entrant employments (€428.58), compared with 73.5% in 2023. In terms of sex, median weekly earnings among new entrant male employments (€489.08) were 37.0% higher than their female counterparts (€356.88).
The highest median weekly earnings among new entrant employments were recorded in the Information & Communication sector (€1,013.62), followed by employments in Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities (€640.88) and Industry (€580.73). Employments among new entrants in Administrative & Support Services recorded the largest increase in median weekly earnings in 2024 at 6.8%, while those in both Financial, Insurance & Real Estate (-1.6%) and Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities (-3.9%) recorded a decrease in weekly earnings.
The lowest median weekly earnings among new entrant employments in 2024 were recorded for the Arts, Entertainment, Recreation & Other Services (€264.19) and Accommodation & Food Services (€285.55) sectors. Human Health & Social Work was the only economic sector in which new entrant employments among females (€584.44) recorded higher median weekly earnings compared with their male counterparts (€553.99). A similar trend was observed in previous years.
In 2024, new entrant employments among Irish nationals aged 15-24 years recorded median weekly earnings of €209.03, compared with weekly earnings of €428.84 among their non-Irish counterparts. Hours worked can impact the average earnings recorded, however it is important to note that data in relation to hours worked is not available in the EAADS dataset. Further analysis from the CSO's Labour Force Survey (LFS) shows that a higher proportion (38.9%) of Irish nationals aged 15-24 years worked 19.5 hours or less per week, compared with 16.4% of non-Irish nationals. The gap in median weekly earnings between Irish (€515.92) and non-Irish (€551.76) nationals aged 25-64 years was less considerable.
Longitudinal Analysis
The analysis also includes a study of the new entrant cohort from 2023, in terms of both employment mobility and change in earnings. The analysis is based on the primary employments of the new entrant cohort, which, for this analysis, is defined as the employment with the highest gross earnings in a reference year. More than half (55.0%) of the 2023 new entrant cohort were recorded in the same primary employment in 2024, while a further 21.4% were recorded in a different primary employment.
For the 2023 new entrant cohort, the annual increase in median weekly earnings tended to be least among stayers (13.2%), rising from €450.75 in 2023 to €510.11 in 2024, while those who changed employment recorded an increase of 40.0%, from €346.15 in 2023 to €484.71 in 2024. The lower weekly earnings recorded among movers during their first year of employment, compared with stayers, may indicate a potential incentive for mobility."