The employment rate for people aged 15-64 years was 74.7% in Quarter 1 2025, up from 73.8% a year earlier.
The number of people aged 15-89 years in employment rose by 89,900 or 3.3% to 2,794,100 people in the 12 months to Q1 2025.
There were 124,200 unemployed people aged 15-74 years in Q1 2025 using International Labour Organisation (ILO) criteria, with an associated unemployment rate for those aged 15-74 years of 4.3%, up from 4.1% in Q1 2024.
The estimated Labour Force (i.e. the sum of all people aged 15-89 years who were either employed or unemployed) stood at 2,918,300 in Q1 2025, up 3.5% (+98,900) from Q1 2024.
The estimated labour market participation rate in Q1 2025 was 65.8%, up from 65.0% in Q1 2024.
The estimated total number of hours worked per week in Q1 2025 increased by 1.0 million hours or 1.2% on Q1 2024 figures to 86.5 million hours.
The headline table shows the numbers and rates for employed and unemployed people. It also shows those working in the labour force and those not in the labour force. It highlights the annual change to Q1 2025.
| Table 1.1 Labour Force Survey Summary Results | ||
| Indicator | Q1 2025 | Annual change 1 |
| Employed persons aged 15-89 years | 2,794,100 | +89,900 |
| Employment rate for those aged 15-64 years | 74.7% | +0.8 pp |
| Unemployed persons aged 15-74 years | 124,200 | 9,000 |
| Unemployment rate for those aged 15-74 years | 4.3% | 0.2pp |
| In labour force | 2,918,300 | +98,900 |
| Not in labour force | 1,516,400 | 100 |
| 1 pp refers to percentage point change | ||
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a continuous household survey carried out by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and is the official source for employment and unemployment estimates in Ireland.
The official labour market classification of respondents to the LFS is based on International Labour Organisation (ILO) concepts and definitions.
All European Union (EU) Member States are legally obliged to carry out a Labour Force Survey and to provide these data to Eurostat on a quarterly basis, as set out in the Integration of European Social Statistics (IESS) framework regulation (EU 2019/1700) and Implementing Regulation (EU 2019/2240), which apply from 01 January 2021.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (22 May 2025) published results from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for Quarter 1 2025.
Commenting on today’s release, Colin Hanley, Statistician in the Labour Market & Earnings Division, said: “The estimated number of people in employment in Q1 2025 stood at 2,794,100, up by 3.3% compared with a year ago.
Employment
The 3.3% rise in the number of people in employment in the 12 months to Q1 2025 was equivalent to 89,900 more people working than a year earlier.
An estimated 593,400 or 21.2% of those in employment worked part-time, and 131,300 or 22.1% of those in part-time employment were classified as underemployed (i.e. they would like to work more hours for more pay).
In the 12 months to Q1 2025 the age group with the highest employment rate was in the 35-44 years age group (+86.1%), which was up 2.2 percentage points from the 83.9% recorded a year previously. The lowest employment rate by age was observed in the 15-19 year old cohort at 24.4%.
The largest increase in employment by economic sector was in the Education sector, which rose by 21,500 people (+9.3%). The largest decrease in employment was in Wholesale & Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles & Motorcycles, down by 8,200 people (-2.5%).
Hours Worked
The estimated total number of hours worked in Quarter 1 2025 was 86.5 million hours per week, which was 1.0 million more hours worked per week when compared with Q1 2024.
The year-on-year change in hours worked varied across the different economic sectors. The Information & Communication and Education sectors both saw an additional 500,000 hours worked when compared with Q1 2024. The largest sectoral decrease in hours worked was in the Wholesale & Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles & Motorcycles sector, which was down 500,000 hours in the year to Q1 2025.
Unemployment
The number of people aged 15-74 years who were unemployed in Q1 2025 stood at 124,200, with an associated Unemployment Rate of 4.3%.
There were 25,900 people in long-term unemployment (unemployed for 12 months or longer) in Q1 2025, 2,900 fewer people than in Q1 2024. The corresponding rate of long-term unemployment was 0.9%, down from 1.0% a year earlier.”
Survey Participation
Commenting on the importance of sampled individuals taking part in the LFS, Colin Hanley added: “Sampled households receive introductory letters by post asking them to take part in the Labour Force Survey. A person from a participating household completes the interview either by telephone or by a CSO interviewer visiting the household.
Household surveys give us a picture of the economic and social situation of the citizens of Ireland with a level of accuracy that no one else can gain. If you are asked to take part in a CSO survey, please do so. We count on you to take part in our surveys, and you can count on us to provide accurate statistics that reflect our society.”