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Live Register May 2025

The seasonally adjusted Live Register fell by 2.8% to 165,700 people in May 2025

Online ISSN: 200-535X

CSO statistical release, 09 June 2025, 11am

Key Findings

The seasonally adjusted Live Register total for May 2025 was 165,700 people, down by 4,700 people or 2.8% from April 2025.
The unadjusted Live Register total stood at 162,269 people for May 2025, of which 56.0% were male and 71.6% were Irish.
The 25-34 years age group made up the largest number of those on the Live Register in May 2025 at 38,472 people or 23.7% of the total.
The counties that recorded the largest percentage increases in the number of people on the Live Register in the 12 months to May 2025 were Dublin (+2.9%) and Kildare (+0.7%), while the largest decreases were in Kerry (-18.3%) and Clare (-15.2%).
In May 2025 there were 106,488 people on the Live Register for less than one year, which was 563 fewer people (-0.5%) than in May 2024.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (09 June 2025) published results from the Live Register for May 2025.

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

“The unadjusted Live Register total for May 2025 was 162,269. When seasonal effects are considered, the seasonally adjusted Live Register total for May 2025 was 165,700 or 4,700 fewer people than April 2025.

There were 12,059 people benefitting from the EU's Temporary Protection Directive included in the Live Register figures for May 2025, a decrease of 380 people from April 2025.

The counties that recorded the largest percentage decreases in numbers on the Live Register in the 12 months to May 2025 were Kerry, down 1,183 people (-18.3%) and Clare, down 640 people (-15.2%). The counties that recorded the largest percentage increases were Dublin, up 1,257 people (+2.9%), and Kildare, up 43 people (+0.7%) - (See PxStat Table LRM15).

The number of people on the Live Register for one year or more in May 2025 was 55,781, which was 5,574 fewer people (-9.1%) than a year earlier. There were 106,488 people on the Live Register for less than one year, which was 65.6% of the total number of people on the Live Register.”

Editor's Note

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 May 2025 Live Register includes claims for the new Jobseeker’s Pay Related Benefit (PRB) scheme. The scheme was introduced on Monday 31 March 2025 for persons who became fully unemployed on or after that date. Pay Related Benefit data for April 2025 is now available and Jobseeker’s Benefit data for April 2025 has been revised. Figures by type of Social Welfare Scheme are available on PxStat Tables LRM01 and LRM18.

The seasonally adjusted Live Register decreased by 2.8% to 165,700 over the month to May 2025

Persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
	Live Register Total	Seasonally Adjusted
May 2024	168,406	172,400
April 2025	167,960	170,400
May 2025	162,269	165,700

Change in month	..	-4,700
Change in year	-6,137	..

Open in Excel: Live Register May 2025 Headline Table (XLS 32KB)

Table 1 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 May 2025 were Kerry (-18.3%) and Clare (-15.2%)

The number of Jobseeker's Allowance claims decreased by 6.7% (-7,966) in May 2025 compared with 12 months earlier

The number of Jobseeker’s Benefit claims decreased by 19.7% (-7,481) in May 2025 compared with 12 months earlier.

The number of Jobseeker’s Pay Related Benefit claims recorded in May 2025 was 11,133. Jobseeker’s Pay Related Benefit is a new scheme introduced on 31 March 2025 – see note above.

The number of persons on the Live Register for one year or more in May 2025 was 55,781 - down 5,574 (-9.1%) from a year earlier

19,050

people under the age of 25 were on the Live Register in May 2025.

This cohort accounted for 11.7% of all claimants.

Source: CSO Ireland, Live Register May 2025

Persons between the ages of 25 and 54 accounted for two-thirds of those on the Live Register in May 2025

Table 2 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
2024	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

2025	January	22,916	6,169	16,747	4,911	19,707	5,016	14,691	6,205	42,623	11,185	31,438	11,116
	February	22,479	4,814	17,665	4,513	20,866	5,282	15,584	3,717	43,345	10,096	33,249	8,230
	March	21,340	3,936	17,404	4,458	18,267	3,205	15,062	5,276	39,607	7,141	32,466	9,734
	April	23,189	6,655	16,534	4,187	23,992	9,421	14,571	3,235	47,181	16,076	31,105	7,422
	May	15,849	2,003	13,846	5,280	14,707	2,060	12,647	8,612	30,556	4,063	26,493	13,892
JA Applications
2024	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

2025	January	66,583	5,516	61,067	4,926	45,673	4,203	41,470	4,193	112,256	9,719	102,537	9,119
	February	66,287	4,385	61,902	5,367	45,372	3,495	41,877	4,127	111,659	7,880	103,779	9,494
	March	65,374	3,932	61,442	5,419	44,678	2,958	41,720	4,110	110,052	6,890	103,162	9,529
	April	65,299	4,334	60,965	5,032	45,274	3,850	41,424	3,696	110,573	8,184	102,389	8,728
	May	65,539	5,803	59,736	6,382	45,040	4,732	40,308	5,462	110,579	10,535	100,044	11,844
Other Registrants
2024	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

2025	January	2,984	90	2,894	156	7,372	164	7,208	338	10,356	254	10,102	494
	February	2,973	69	2,904	130	7,330	139	7,191	258	10,303	208	10,095	388
	March	2,963	83	2,880	138	7,244	141	7,103	295	10,207	224	9,983	433
	April	2,945	81	2,864	144	7,261	218	7,043	281	10,206	299	9,907	425
	May	2,889	76	2,813	171	7,112	153	6,959	377	10,001	229	9,772	548
Pay Related Benefit ²
2025	April	3,093	3,019	74	..	2,045	2,004	41	..	5,138	5,023	115	..
	May	6,571	4,060	2,511	624	4,562	2,874	1,688	390	11,133	6,934	4,199	1,014
All Schemes
2024	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

2025	January	92,483	11,775	80,708	9,993	72,752	9,383	63,369	10,736	165,235	21,158	144,077	20,729
	February	91,739	9,268	82,471	10,010	73,568	8,916	64,652	8,102	165,307	18,184	147,123	18,112
	March	89,677	7,951	81,726	10,015	70,189	6,304	63,885	9,681	159,866	14,255	145,611	19,696
	April	91,433	11,070	80,363	9,363	76,527	13,489	63,038	7,212	167,960	24,559	143,401	16,575
	May	90,848	11,942	78,906	12,457	71,421	9,819	61,602	14,841	162,269	21,761	140,508	27,298
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.
² The Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit (PRB) Scheme was introduced on Monday 31 March 2025 for persons who became fully unemployed on or after that date.
.. indicates no value for a cell in this month.

Open in Excel: Live Register May 2025 Table 3 (XLS 41KB)

There were 36,455 persons availing of activation programmes in April 2025, representing a decrease of 836 persons (-2.2%) from the previous year

Data up to the end of April 2025 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.

12,059

people benefitting from the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) included in the Live Register figures for May 2025.

Source: CSO Ireland, Live Register May 2025

63.6% of those benefitting from TPD in May 2025 were female (7,673). 89.5% (10,790) of all recipients were over 25 years old

Table 4 Persons on the Live Register classified by Nationality Grouping

Table 5 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.

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Table 1 Persons on the Live Register - Unadjusted and Seasonally Adjusted
		Unadjusted Series			Seasonally Adjusted Series¹
	Month	Males	Females	All Persons	Males	Females	All Persons
2023	May	94,869	81,747	176,616	96,100	85,300	181,300
	June	96,228	88,319	184,547	96,200	85,200	181,500
	July	98,781	96,005	194,786	96,100	84,400	180,500
	August	97,613	88,504	186,117	95,300	83,200	178,500
	September	94,176	79,726	173,902	95,400	83,400	178,800
	October	92,726	76,985	169,711	95,200	79,300	174,600
	November	92,726	76,720	169,446	94,900	78,900	173,800
	December	94,670	78,333	173,003	94,500	79,100	173,700

2024	January	97,458	79,806	177,264	95,900	81,500	177,400
	February	95,643	78,339	173,982	94,700	79,300	173,900
	March	94,711	78,685	173,396	94,500	80,400	174,900
	April	92,963	76,534	169,497	94,000	79,900	173,900
	May	92,479	75,927	168,406	93,500	78,900	172,400
	June	93,165	81,744	174,909	93,100	78,500	171,600
	July	95,558	90,410	185,968	92,700	79,000	171,700
	August	94,744	83,124	177,868	92,300	77,900	170,200
	September	90,014	72,841	162,855	91,200	76,400	167,600
	October	89,486	74,290	163,776	92,200	76,500	168,800
	November	88,130	70,137	158,267	90,400	72,100	162,500
	December	90,702	74,104	164,806	90,700	75,100	165,700

2025	January	92,483	72,752	165,235	90,900	74,500	165,400
	February	91,739	73,568	165,307	90,700	74,400	165,200
	March	89,677	70,189	159,866	90,000	73,700	163,700
	April	91,433	76,527	167,960	92,200	78,200	170,400
	May	90,848	71,421	162,269	91,700	74,000	165,700
¹ Table contains revised figures.

Table 2 Persons on the Live Register classified by Duration of Continuous Registration
Duration	May 2024	April 2025	May 2025	Monthly change	Annual change	Under 25 years	25 years & over
Males
Less than one year	57,648	58,886	58,133	-753	+485	8,328	49,805
One year or more	34,831	32,547	32,715	+168	-2,116	2,348	30,367
Total	92,479	91,433	90,848	-585	-1,631	10,676	80,172

Females
Less than one year	49,403	53,642	48,355	-5,287	-1,048	6,656	41,699
One year or more	26,524	22,885	23,066	+181	-3,458	1,718	21,348
Total	75,927	76,527	71,421	-5,106	-4,506	8,374	63,047

All Persons
Less than one year	107,051	112,528	106,488	-6,040	-563	14,984	91,504
One year or more	61,355	55,432	55,781	+349	-5,574	4,066	51,715
Total	168,406	167,960	162,269	-5,691	-6,137	19,050	143,219

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
2023	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

2025	January	5,332	3,306	14,963	23,473	47,074	118,161	165,235
	February	5,352	3,273	14,921	23,368	46,914	118,393	165,307
	March	5,188	3,262	14,447	23,024	45,921	113,945	159,866
	April	5,363	3,457	14,755	23,240	46,815	121,145	167,960
	May	5,122	3,348	14,349	23,283	46,102	116,167	162,269

Table 5 Persons benefitting from the Temporary Protection Directive (Ukraine)
Category	February 2025	March 2025	April 2025	May 2025
Males
Under 25 years	655	638	613	628
25 years & over	4,102	4,008	3,888	3,758
Total	4,757	4,646	4,501	4,386

Females
Under 25 years	679	679	649	641
25 years & over	7,639	7,451	7,289	7,032
Total	8,318	8,130	7,938	7,673

All Persons
Under 25 years	1,334	1,317	1,262	1,269
25 years & over	11,741	11,459	11,177	10,790
Total	13,075	12,776	12,439	12,059

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