More than one in three (35.5%) households reported that medical expenses were either a heavy burden or somewhat of a financial burden in 2025.
Over a third (35.2%) of households experiencing enforced deprivation reported dental expenses as a heavy financial burden, compared with 6.1% of households not experiencing deprivation.
Frequent GP visits were more common among people in lower income households. Of the 20% of the population in the lowest income group (quintile 1), 40.6% had three or more GP visits, compared with 31.3% of the 20% in the highest income group (quintile 5).
People experiencing consistent poverty were less likely to report eating vegetables or salad daily at 50.0%, compared with 72.8% of those not experiencing consistent poverty.
People who reported having very bad general health were over five times less likely to never engage in physical activity or do so less than once a week in 2025 at 74.6% compared with 14.4% of those who reported very good general health.
Among people whose work involved mostly heavy labour or physically demanding work, 37.2% never exercised or did so less than once a week, compared with 14.8% of those whose work involved mostly sitting.
In 2025, 9.2% of households reported that medical expenses were a heavy financial burden with a further 26.3% of households indicating these expenses were somewhat of a burden. Over one in five (23.1%) deprived households reported that the associated costs of healthcare were a heavy financial burden, compared with 6.8% of households not experiencing deprivation.
More than one in three (35.2%) of households experiencing enforced deprivation, in which at least one person had a dental examination or treatment in the last 12 months, reported that the associated costs of the dental consultation were a heavy financial burden, compared with 6.1% of households not experiencing deprivation.
For dental expenses, the share of households that reported a heavy financial burden was highest in the first income quintile, the lowest income group, at 11.5%, compared with 4.9% in the fifth quintile, the highest income group.
Medical expenses were reported as a financial burden by 37.7% of households without a medical or GP visit card, compared to 31.3% of households with a medical card and 36.0% of households with a GP visit card.
Among households consisting of one adult with children under 18, 25.6% reported medical expenses as a heavy burden, compared with 5.1% of households consisting of one adult aged 65 years and over.
Medical expenses were reported as a heavy burden or somewhat of a financial burden by 45.6% of households with a bad general health status compared with 27.1% of households with a very good health status.
In 2025, 49.6% of people experiencing deprivation, 48.7% of people living in consistent poverty and 42.1% of people at risk of poverty had consulted a GP three or more times, compared with 34.1% of those not experiencing deprivation, 35.8% of those not living in consistent poverty, and 35.5% of those not at risk of poverty.
The largest differences in the frequency of healthcare consultations were observed by general health status. The proportion consulting a GP three or more times was 85.9% among those reporting bad general health, compared with 19.2% among those reporting very good health. Frequent consultations were also more common among medical card holders, 57.3% of those with a medical card had consulted a GP three or more times, compared with 27.2% of those without a medical or GP visit card.
Household composition also played a role. The proportion consulting a GP three or more times was highest among one-adult households aged 65 years and over, at 58.6%, compared with 28.4% among other households with children under 18.
In 2025, 25.2% of people never engaged in physical activity or did so less than once a week, while 32.1% engaged in physical activity once a day or more. Frequency of physical activity varied largely by income quintile with 39.6% of those in income quintile 1 (the 20% of people with the lowest income) never engaging in physical activity or doing so less than once a week compared to 11.5% of those in the income quintile 5 (the 20% of people with the highest income).
A greater proportion of females reported undertaking daily exercise across all age groups compared with men. For those aged 18 to 34 years a similar proportion of females and males exercised daily, 33.4% and 32.5% respectively. The daily exercise gap between females and males widened for those aged 35 to 49 years and 50 to 64 years, with 34.4% of females aged 50 to 64 years reporting exercising daily compared with 29.8% of males of the same age. The gap closed for those aged 65 years and over where the daily exercise rate was 37.3% for females and 37.1% for males.
Physical activity also varied according to the type of work undertaken. Among people whose work involved mostly heavy labour or physically demanding work, 40.2% never exercised or did so less than once a week, compared with 14.6% of those whose work involved mostly sitting.
Dietary behaviours differed by economic circumstances and general health. Daily vegetable or salad consumption was reported by 50.0% of people living in consistent poverty, compared with 72.8% of those not living in consistent poverty. Daily vegetable or salad consumption was also reported by 79.4% of people in very good general health, compared with 52.9% of those in bad general health.
In 2025, 27.3% of people living in consistent poverty reported daily use of tobacco (tobacco, nicotine, or vaping) products, more than double the rate among those not living in consistent poverty, at 11.1%. Daily use also varied by income: 15.1% of people in the lowest income group (Quintile 1) reported daily use, compared with 6.7% of people in the highest income group (Quintile 5).
In contrast, 12.7% of people living in consistent poverty reported consuming alcohol a few times a week or more, nearly half that of those not living in consistent poverty, at 24.7%. Alcohol consumption also varied by income quintile, but in the direction to tobacco consumption, with 16.4% of those in lowest-income group (Quintile 1) consuming an alcoholic drink a few times a week or more, half that of those in the highest income group (Quintile 5), at 32.7%.
The Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) is a household survey covering a broad range of topics related to income and living conditions. It is the official source of data on household and individual income and provides key national poverty indicators, including the at risk of poverty rate, the consistent poverty rate, and rates of enforced deprivation.
In addition to the core variables collected annually, SILC also collects supplementary variables each year on topics selected by Eurostat.
The figures published in this report relate to the 3-year rolling module on Health, which focuses on access to healthcare, the financial burden of healthcare, and determinants of health. Household-level questions were collected from the head of household, while personal questions were asked of all individuals aged 16 years and over living in respondent households.
This module was also included in Survey on Income and Living Conditions 2022 and the results are presented in this release along with the 2025 results.
Previous SILC releases include income and poverty results in Survey on Income and Living Conditions 2025, published 11 March 2026, Survey on Income and Living Conditions Enforced Deprivation 2025, published 11 March 2026, Well-being - Survey on Income and Living Conditions 2025, published 25 March 2026 and Poverty Indicators by Health Status SILC 2025, published 30 June 2026.
Further information is available in the Background Notes section.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (13 October 2026) published Health and Lifestyle results from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2025.
Households referred to in this release are those who availed of healthcare services in the previous 12 months and individuals are restricted to those 16 years and over.
Commenting on today’s release, Cian Martin, Statistician in the Income, Consumption and Wealth Division, said: “In SILC 2025, respondents in households experiencing poverty or deprivation, and those reporting poorer general health, were more likely to experience financial pressure from healthcare expenses, use healthcare services more frequently and report less favourable health-related behaviours, including lower levels of physical activity, less frequent fruit and vegetable consumption, and higher rates of daily tobacco consumption. The Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) identifies people living in enforced deprivation as those who cannot afford two of 11 basic deprivation indicators. See Survey on Income and Living Conditions Fact Sheet.
These results provide an overview of how healthcare experiences and health-related behaviours vary across different groups in society. The figures show associations with poverty, income, household circumstances, economic status and general health. Those experiencing financial disadvantage or poorer health were generally more likely to require healthcare, face difficulties meeting healthcare costs and report less favourable health-related behaviours.”