You are here: Home / Statistics / Live Register December 2024

Live Register December 2024

The seasonally adjusted Live Register rose by 2.0% to 166,600 people over the month to December 2024

Online ISSN: 200-535X

CSO statistical publication, 10 January 2025, 11am

Key Findings

The seasonally adjusted Live Register total for December 2024 was 166,600 people, up by 3,200 people or 2.0% from November 2024.
The unadjusted Live Register total stood at 164,806 people for December 2024, of which 55.0% were male and 72.1% were Irish.
The 25-34 years age group made up the largest number of those on the Live Register in December 2024 at 38,289 people or 23.2% of the total.
Two counties recorded percentage increases in the number of people on the Live Register in the 12 months to December 2024 - Kildare (+3.8%) and Dublin (+0.6%).
In December 2024 there were 108,451 people on the Live Register for less than one year, which was 2,257 fewer people (-2.0%) than December 2023.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (10 January 2025) published results from the Live Register for December 2024.

Commenting on today’s release, Conor Delves, Statistician in the Labour Market Analysis Section, said:

“The unadjusted Live Register total for December 2024 was 164,806. When seasonal effects are considered, the seasonally adjusted Live Register total for December 2024 was 166,600 or 3,200 more people than November 2024.

There were 13,047 people benefitting from the EU's Temporary Protection Directive included in the Live Register figures for December 2024, an increase of 71 people from November 2024.

Percentage increases in the number of people on the Live Register in the 12 months to December 2024 were recorded in Kildare (+3.8%) and Dublin (+0.6%) (See PxStat table LRM15).

The number of people on the Live Register for one year or more in December 2024 was 56,355, which was 5,940 fewer people (-9.5%) than a year earlier. There were 108,451 people on the Live Register for less than one year, which was 65.8% of the total number of people on the Live Register.”

Editor's Note

People arriving in Ireland from Ukraine under the EU's Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) can access a wide range of Department of Social Protection (DSP) supports. The majority of new applications for income support from people of working age are being processed as Jobseeker's Allowance (JA) claims until the most appropriate income support for that person is identified. This facilitates access to existing part-time work supports where appropriate. If a person is on JA for 20* claim paid days or more, they are counted on the Live Register.

*Before October 2022, persons availing of TPD were included in the Live Register when they had been in receipt of JA for 50 days or more.

From 9 September 2024 beneficiaries of EU’s Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) living in Designated Accommodation Centres no longer qualify for Jobseeker’s Allowance and thus are no longer enumerated on the Live Register – see Background Notes.

Data in this release are subject to revision based on updates to the seasonally adjusted series whenever new monthly data are added, such revisions are typically very minor in scale. It should be noted that larger revisions can occur when the comprehensive annual review of the seasonal adjustment model is carried out in January of each year. See background notes for further details.

The seasonally adjusted Live Register rose by 2.0% to 166,600 over the month to December 2024

Total Persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
	Live Register Total	Seasonally Adjusted
December 2023	173,003	174,500
November 2024	158,267	163,400
December 2024	164,806	166,600

Change in month	-	3,200
Change in year	-8,197	-

Open in Excel: Live Register December 2024 Headline Table (XLS 32KB)

Table 1 Total Persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted

The counties that saw the largest percentage decrease in the number of persons on the Live Register in the 12 months to December 2024 were Clare (-17.7%), Kerry (-15.6%) and Donegal (-14.9%)

The number of Jobseeker's Allowance claims decreased by 8.7% (-10,535) in December 2024 compared with 12 months earlier

The number of Jobseekers Benefit claims increased by 10.3% (+4,077) in December 2024 compared with 12 months earlier.

The number of persons on the Live Register for one year or more in December 2024 was 56,355 - down 5,940 (-9.5%) from a year earlier

17,930

people under the age of 25 were on the Live Register in December 2024.

This cohort accounted for 10.9% of all claimants.

Source: CSO Ireland, Live Register December 2024

Persons between the ages of 25 and 54 accounted for two-thirds of those on the Live Register in December 2024

Table 2 Total persons on the Live Register classified by Duration of Continuous registration

Table 3 Summary of flows on and off the Live Register

Table 3 Summary of flows on and off the Live Register¹
		Males				Females				All Claimants
		Total	Joined	Stayed	Left	Total	Joined	Stayed	Left	Total	Joined	Stayed	Left
JB Claims
2023	December	21,319	4,761	16,558	2,708	18,421	3,958	14,463	2,366	39,740	8,719	31,021	5,074

2024	January	22,620	5,562	17,058	3,669	19,291	4,932	14,359	3,637	41,911	10,494	31,417	7,306
	February	21,457	5,170	16,287	5,480	18,345	4,154	14,191	4,521	39,802	9,324	30,478	10,001
	March	21,211	4,277	16,934	3,902	19,256	4,749	14,507	3,433	40,467	9,026	31,441	7,335
	April	20,585	4,510	16,075	4,426	18,080	4,050	14,030	4,728	38,665	8,560	30,105	9,154
	May	20,283	5,172	15,111	4,763	17,754	4,366	13,388	4,199	38,037	9,538	28,499	8,962
	June	21,065	5,086	15,979	3,723	22,425	8,162	14,263	3,015	43,490	13,248	30,242	6,738
	July	22,673	5,859	16,814	3,536	29,401	10,288	19,113	2,859	52,074	16,147	35,927	6,395
	August	22,040	5,618	16,422	5,520	23,455	5,131	18,324	10,469	45,495	10,749	34,746	15,989
	September	20,580	4,496	16,084	5,301	18,617	3,990	14,627	8,413	39,197	8,486	30,711	13,714
	October	21,246	6,474	14,772	4,988	21,210	7,668	13,542	4,454	42,456	14,142	28,314	9,442
	November	20,525	4,549	15,976	4,622	18,098	3,792	14,306	6,489	38,623	8,341	30,282	11,111
	December	22,403	5,172	17,231	2,640	21,414	6,115	15,299	2,359	43,817	11,287	32,530	4,999
JA Applications
2023	December	69,824	12,289	57,535	12,372	51,165	17,497	33,668	17,417	120,989	29,786	91,203	29,789

2024	January	71,335	4,986	66,349	4,054	51,855	3,807	48,048	3,492	123,190	8,793	114,397	7,546
	February	70,705	4,985	65,720	6,393	51,373	3,995	47,378	4,944	122,078	8,980	113,098	11,337
	March	70,033	3,990	66,043	5,242	50,839	3,169	47,670	4,019	120,872	7,159	113,713	9,261
	April	68,926	3,615	65,311	5,376	49,966	2,936	47,030	4,206	118,892	6,551	112,341	9,582
	May	68,762	5,498	63,264	6,309	49,783	4,503	45,280	5,080	118,545	10,001	108,544	11,389
	June	68,702	4,741	63,961	5,343	50,862	4,783	46,079	4,085	119,564	9,524	110,040	9,428
	July	69,470	4,906	64,564	4,796	52,404	5,059	47,345	3,897	121,874	9,965	111,909	8,693
	August	69,336	5,409	63,927	6,230	51,168	4,526	46,642	6,227	120,504	9,935	110,569	12,457
	September	66,357	4,735	61,622	8,335	46,563	3,704	42,859	8,670	112,920	8,439	104,481	17,005
	October	65,231	5,148	60,083	7,034	45,525	4,537	40,988	6,083	110,756	9,685	101,071	13,117
	November	64,606	4,349	60,257	5,581	44,559	3,490	41,069	4,799	109,165	7,839	101,326	10,380
	December	65,278	3,797	61,481	3,739	45,176	3,191	41,985	2,962	110,454	6,988	103,466	6,701
Other Registrants
2023	December	3,527	107	3,420	133	8,747	197	8,550	256	12,274	304	11,970	389

2024	January	3,503	106	3,397	142	8,660	135	8,525	273	12,163	241	11,922	415
	February	3,481	81	3,400	175	8,621	179	8,442	333	12,102	260	11,842	508
	March	3,467	82	3,385	139	8,590	175	8,415	293	12,057	257	11,800	432
	April	3,452	74	3,378	146	8,488	140	8,348	342	11,940	214	11,726	488
	May	3,434	88	3,346	170	8,390	139	8,251	336	11,824	227	11,597	506
	June	3,398	71	3,327	144	8,457	281	8,176	311	11,855	352	11,503	455
	July	3,415	102	3,313	139	8,605	370	8,235	298	12,020	472	11,548	437
	August	3,368	125	3,243	215	8,501	314	8,187	562	11,869	439	11,430	777
	September	3,077	92	2,985	413	7,661	158	7,503	1,056	10,738	250	10,488	1,469
	October	3,009	139	2,870	265	7,555	333	7,222	554	10,564	472	10,092	819
	November	2,999	97	2,902	149	7,480	195	7,285	341	10,479	292	10,187	490
	December	3,021	85	2,936	105	7,514	203	7,311	219	10,535	288	10,247	324
All Schemes
2023	December	94,670	17,157	77,513	15,213	78,333	21,652	56,681	20,039	173,003	38,809	134,194	35,252

2024	January	97,458	10,654	86,804	7,865	79,806	8,874	70,932	7,402	177,264	19,528	157,736	15,267
	February	95,643	10,236	85,407	12,048	78,339	8,328	70,011	9,798	173,982	18,564	155,418	21,846
	March	94,711	8,349	86,362	9,283	78,685	8,093	70,592	7,745	173,396	16,442	156,954	17,028
	April	92,963	8,199	84,764	9,948	76,534	7,126	69,408	9,276	169,497	15,325	154,172	19,224
	May	92,479	10,758	81,721	11,242	75,927	9,008	66,919	9,615	168,406	19,766	148,640	20,857
	June	93,165	9,898	83,267	9,210	81,744	13,226	68,518	7,411	174,909	23,124	151,785	16,621
	July	95,558	10,867	84,691	8,471	90,410	15,717	74,693	7,054	185,968	26,584	159,384	15,525
	August	94,744	11,152	83,592	11,965	83,124	9,971	73,153	17,258	177,868	21,123	156,745	29,223
	September	90,014	9,323	80,691	14,049	72,841	7,852	64,989	18,139	162,855	17,175	145,680	32,188
	October	89,486	11,761	77,725	12,287	74,290	12,538	61,752	11,091	163,776	24,299	139,477	23,378
	November	88,130	8,995	79,135	10,352	70,137	7,477	62,660	11,629	158,267	16,472	141,795	21,981
	December	90,702	9,054	81,648	6,484	74,104	9,509	64,595	5,540	164,806	18,563	146,243	12,024
¹ Flow analysis: inflows and outflows published in this table do not take account of inter-scheme activity within the Live Register. For example, if a claimant exhausts his/her entitlement to JB and opens a new JA claim this is counted as an outflow in JB and an inflow in JA.

Open in Excel: Live Register December 2024 Table 3 (XLS 40KB)

There were 37,126 persons availing of activation programmes in November 2024, representing a decrease of 1,716 persons (-4.4%) from the previous year

Data up to the end of November 2024 on the number of persons availing of a range of programmes targeted primarily at the long-term unemployed (over 12 months) and other welfare recipients is provided in PxStat table LRM14.

Persons on activation programmes are not counted as part of the monthly Live Register.

13,047

people benefitting from the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) included in the Live Register figures for December 2024.

Source: CSO Ireland, Live Register December 2024

63.6% of those benefitting from TPD in December 2024 were female (8,304). 90.5% (11,803) of all recipients were over 25 years old

Table 4 Persons on the Live Register classified by Nationality Grouping

Table 5 Total persons benefitting from the Temporary Protection Directive (Ukraine)

Additional Live Register Information

Detailed tables relating to the monthly estimates of the number of persons on Live Register classified by NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions are included in the CSO Main Data Dissemination Service LRM17 on PxStat.

Table LRM13 on PxStat includes the Live Register occupational data which is sourced from information collected by the DSP on the most recent occupation of claimants when they sign on the Live Register.

Go to Data

Why you can Trust the CSO

Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.

go to trust & transparency

Table 1 Total persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
		Unadjusted Series			Seasonally Adjusted Series¹
	Month	Males	Females	All Persons	Males	Females	All Persons
2022	December	98,710	85,932	184,642	98,500	87,500	186,000

2023	January	99,207	84,973	184,180	97,800	86,100	183,900
	February	98,084	84,792	182,876	97,000	85,900	182,900
	March	96,761	82,542	179,303	96,500	84,900	181,400
	April	95,749	82,831	178,580	96,200	84,100	180,300
	May	94,869	81,747	176,616	96,200	85,100	181,300
	June	96,228	88,319	184,547	96,400	85,200	181,500
	July	98,781	96,005	194,786	96,400	84,100	180,500
	August	97,613	88,504	186,117	95,400	83,400	178,800
	September	94,176	79,726	173,902	95,400	83,700	179,100
	October	92,726	76,985	169,711	95,200	79,800	175,000
	November	92,726	76,720	169,446	94,800	79,600	174,400
	December	94,670	78,333	173,003	94,500	80,000	174,500

2024	January	97,458	79,806	177,264	95,900	80,400	176,200
	February	95,643	78,339	173,982	94,500	79,500	174,100
	March	94,711	78,685	173,396	94,200	79,500	173,700
	April	92,963	76,534	169,497	93,900	79,100	173,000
	May	92,479	75,927	168,406	93,700	78,900	172,600
	June	93,165	81,745	174,910	93,200	78,600	171,800
	July	95,558	90,410	185,968	93,000	78,700	171,700
	August	94,744	83,124	177,868	92,500	78,200	170,600
	September	90,014	72,841	162,855	91,300	76,900	168,200
	October	89,486	74,290	163,776	92,100	77,100	169,200
	November	88,130	70,137	158,267	90,300	73,100	163,400
	December	90,702	74,104	164,806	90,600	76,000	166,600
¹ Table contains revised figures.

Table 2 Persons on the Live Register classified by duration of continuous registration
Duration	December 2023	November 2024	December 2024	Monthly change	Annual change	Under 25 years	25 years & over
Males
Less than one year	59,477	55,351	57,902	+2,551	-1,575	7,938	49,964
One year or more	35,193	32,779	32,800	+21	-2,393	2,207	30,593
Total	94,670	88,130	90,702	+2,572	-3,968	10,145	80,557

Females
Less than one year	51,231	46,474	50,549	4,075	-682	6,197	44,352
One year or more	27,102	23,663	23,555	-108	-3,547	1,588	21,967
Total	78,333	70,137	74,104	+3,967	-4,229	7,785	66,319

All Persons
Less than one year	110,708	101,825	108,451	+6,626	-2,257	14,135	94,316
One year or more	62,295	56,442	56,355	-87	-5,940	3,795	52,560
Total	173,003	158,267	164,806	+6,539	-8,197	17,930	146,876

Table 4 Persons on the Live Register classified by Nationality Grouping
		Nationality Grouping
		Non-Irish nationals
		United Kingdom	EU14_2020 excl. IRL	EU15-EU27_2020	Other	Non-Irish nationals	Irish nationals	All Persons
2022	December	6,037	2,563	16,325	29,562	54,487	130,155	184,642

2023	January	6,002	2,611	16,360	30,233	55,206	128,974	184,180
	February	5,952	2,624	16,149	30,589	55,314	127,562	182,876
	March	5,788	2,565	15,691	30,918	54,962	124,341	179,303
	April	5,752	2,600	15,533	30,700	54,585	123,995	178,580
	May	5,677	2,641	15,141	30,699	54,158	122,458	176,616
	June	5,892	2,781	15,213	31,338	55,224	129,323	184,547
	July	6,132	2,912	15,605	32,106	56,755	138,031	194,786
	August	5,823	2,869	15,029	32,191	55,912	130,205	186,117
	September	5,455	2,667	14,447	30,798	53,367	120,535	173,902
	October	5,401	2,608	14,240	30,283	52,532	117,179	169,711
	November	5,390	2,621	14,435	30,324	52,770	116,676	169,446
	December	5,430	2,779	14,858	30,990	54,057	118,946	173,003

2024	January	5,522	3,018	15,479	31,542	55,561	121,703	177,264
	February	5,434	2,977	15,189	31,154	54,754	119,228	173,982
	March	5,415	2,951	14,975	30,541	53,882	119,514	173,396
	April	5,324	2,936	14,761	29,494	52,515	116,982	169,497
	May	5,275	2,891	14,466	28,704	51,336	117,070	168,406
	June	5,472	2,996	14,565	28,527	51,560	123,349	174,909
	July	5,755	3,272	15,018	28,556	52,601	133,367	185,968
	August	5,542	3,158	14,465	27,833	50,998	126,870	177,868
	September	5,216	2,977	13,857	23,925	45,975	116,880	162,855
	October	5,275	2,990	14,121	23,062	45,448	118,328	163,776
	November	5,139	2,987	14,029	22,722	44,877	113,390	158,267
	December	5,302	3,200	14,544	22,991	46,037	118,769	164,806

Table 5 Total persons benefitting from the Temporary Protection Directive (Ukraine)
Category	September 2024	October 2024	November 2024	December 2024
Males
Under 25 years	688	632	609	614
25 years & over	4,364	4,160	4,097	4,129
Total	5,052	4,792	4,706	4,743

Females
Under 25 years	717	637	619	630
25 years & over	8,035	7,649	7,651	7,674
Total	8,752	8,286	8,270	8,304

All Persons
Under 25 years	1,405	1,269	1,228	1,244
25 years & over	12,399	11,809	11,748	11,803
Total	13,804	13,078	12,976	13,047

Live Register December 2024