The CSO, through Ireland's Institute for SDGs (IIS), supports reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals.
SDG 1.1.1 Proportion of the population below the International poverty line is not directly measured, as the national poverty line in SDG 1.2.1 is more indicative of poverty in Ireland.
The SDG Indicators Metadata Repository defines SDG 1.1.1 metadata as:
Proportion of the population below the international poverty line is defined as the percentage of the population living on less than $2.15 a day at 2017 international prices.
The national minimum hourly rate is €12.70 since 1 January 2024. The rate for persons aged under 18 years is €8.89. Full details of intermediate rates are available online from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
The social welfare system is a state financial support for people who might need help due to different life situations. This can include people who are unemployed, sick, disabled, retired, or raising children on their own. See Social Welfare Schemes and Services for further details.
SDG 1.2.1 Proportion of the population living below the National poverty line is measured by the consistent poverty rate in the CSO Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC).
The SDG Indicators Metadata Repository defines SDG 1.2.1 metadata as:
The national poverty rate is the percentage of the total population living below the national poverty line.
Please note that due to a break in time series the SILC 2020-2022 data will be presented in a separate table to that of SILC 2019.
The consistent poverty measure is defined as people who are both at risk of poverty and experiencing enforced deprivation. The consistent poverty rate in SILC 2022 was 5.3%, compared with 4.0% for the previous year.
For persons of working age, the risk of poverty, deprivation and consistent poverty tends to be correlated with employment status. An analysis by principal economic status shows that the consistent poverty rate was highest among persons unable to work due to long-standing health problems (19.7%) and the unemployed (18.0%), while it was lowest amongst those who were employed (2.3%).
Similarly, the risk of poverty, deprivation and consistent poverty tends to follow a downward trajectory as the number of employed persons within a household increase. For persons living in households where no one is at work, the consistent poverty rate is 13.8%, compared with 6.5% for those living in households with one person at work, and 1.5% for those in households with two persons at work.
In terms of tenure status, the consistent poverty rate for those living in owner-occupied dwellings was 2.2% compared with 12.9% for those living in rented or rent-free accommodation. See Table 4.1.
The consistent poverty rate in 2019 was 5.5% compared with 5.6% in 2018, this is not a statistically significant change.
According to the SILC 2019 report the male and female consistent poverty rates were 5.4% and 5.6% respectively. In terms of age, children aged 0-17 years were most likely to be in consistent poverty (8.1%), followed by persons aged 18-64 years (5.1%) and those aged 65 years and over (2.3%).
An analysis of consistent poverty rates by principal economic status shows that the consistent poverty rate was highest among unemployed individuals (20.2%) and lowest among those who were at work (1.3%) and those who were retired (2.1%).
An analysis of consistent poverty rates by tenure status shows that the rate for those living in owner-occupied dwellings was 1.8% compared with 13.5% for those living in renting accommodation. See Table 4.2.
SDG 1.2.2 Proportion of the population living in poverty in poverty in all its dimensions is measured in the CSO Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC).
The SDG Indicators Metadata Repository defines SDG 1.2.2 metadata as:
The following five series are used to monitor the SDG 1.2.2:
Please note that due to a break in time series the SILC 2020-2022 data will be presented in a separate table to that of SILC 2019.
An individual is defined as being at risk of poverty if their nominal equivalised disposable income is under the at risk of poverty threshold, i.e. 60% of the median nominal equivalised disposable income.
In SILC 2022, the at risk of poverty rate was 13.1%, a 1.5 percentage point increase on the 2021 estimate of 11.6%. This figure is similar to the 2020 estimate of 13.2%, indicating that the decrease in 2021 may have been temporary, and linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic measures.
An analysis by socio-demographic characteristics shows that those most at risk of poverty in SILC 2022 were those individuals who described their Principal Economic Status (PES) as unemployed (35.6%), followed by persons unable to work due to long-standing health problems (35.2%). This compares with an at risk of poverty rate of 5.8% for those that described themselves as employed.
The at risk of poverty rate for persons who stated their PES as unemployed was 23.2% in SILC 2021, a 10.0 percentage point decrease on the 2020 estimate of 33.2%. This subsequently increased to 35.6% in SILC 2022. As outlined in the previous chapter, SILC respondents’ PES is self-defined at the time of interview (first six months of 2022), whereas their income reference period is the calendar year 2021, therefore reported income may not be perfectly aligned with PES. Measures put in place to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis contributed to the decrease in the at risk of poverty rate for unemployed respondents in SILC 2021. See Table 4.3.
In 2022 the enforced deprivation results were published in a separate earlier release. See SILC: Enforced Deprivation 2022.
In SILC 2022, 17.7% of the population were defined as living in enforced deprivation, i.e. experienced two or more of the eleven types of deprivation. This compares with 13.8% in 2021. See Table 4.3.
An individual is defined as being at risk of poverty if their nominal equivalised disposable income is under the at risk of poverty threshold, i.e. 60% of the median nominal equivalised disposable income.
According to the SILC 2019 report the ‘at risk of poverty’ rate was 12.8% in 2019 compared with 14.0% in 2018. While the change between 2018 and 2019 is not statistically significant, there is a statistically significant change in the at risk of poverty rate between 2017 (15.7%) and 2019.
An analysis by socio-demographic characteristics showed that those most at risk of poverty in 2019 were those individuals who were not at work due to illness or disability (37.5%) and individuals who were unemployed (35.4%). This compares with an at risk of poverty rate of 4.6% for those that described their principal economic status as ‘at work’. See Table 4.4.
Up until 2019 the CSO published deprivation results as part of annual SILC publication. In 2020 these results were published in a separate earlier release. See SILC: Enforced Deprivation 2019.
In 2019, 17.8% of the population were defined as living in enforced deprivation, i.e. experienced two or more of the eleven types of deprivation. This compares with 15.1% in 2018 and a high of 30.5% in 2013. The increase in the enforced deprivation rate between 2018 and 2019 was statistically significant. See Table 4.4.
SDG 1.3.1 Proportion of population covered by social protection systems is published by the Department of Social Protection.
The SDG Indicators Metadata Repository defines SDG 1.3.1 metadata as:
The indicator reflects the proportion of persons effectively covered by a social protection system, including social protection floors. It also reflects the main components of social protection: child and maternity benefits, support for persons without a job, persons with disabilities, victims of work injuries and older persons.
Effective coverage of social protection is measured by the number of people who are either actively contributing to a social insurance scheme or receiving benefits (contributory or non-contributory).
The Department of Social Protection publishes Annual Statistical Reports. Information for Ireland below is from the Department of Social Protection’s Statistical Information On Social Welfare Services Annual Report 2022 (PDF 41.4 MB).
The main areas of expenditure by programme group were total pensions (€9,437 million) and total illness, disability and caring (€5,298 million). See Table 4.5.
At the end of 2022, there were 3.4 million people who were beneficiaries of social protection payments, representing approximately 65% of the estimated population in 2022. See Table 4.6.
Further information from the DSP Statistical Annual Report 2022 indicates that:
Over 2.3 million people were recipients of social protection payments in 2022 (numbers include duplicates if a person is in receipt of more than one scheme). Pension recipients accounted for 0.7 million persons in 2022, and there were 0.9 million child related payment recipients. See Table 4.7.
Almost 3.8 million people were beneficiaries of social protection payments in 2022 (numbers include duplicates if a person is in receipt of more than one scheme). Pension beneficiaries accounted for 0.8 million persons in 2022, and there were 1.8 million child related payment beneficiaries. See Table 4.8.
The number of people in receipt of the state pension (contributory) pension in 2022 totalled 484,541, a rise of 15,780 (3.4%) compared to the previous year, while numbers in receipt of the state pension (non-contributory) pension increased by 2,723 (2.9%) to 97,727 in 2022.
Counties in the East (Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Laois) with younger populations had less than 120 pension recipients per 1,000 population in 2022. Counties with more than 140 pension recipients per 1,000 population in 2022 were predominantly in the West and North West. See Table 4.9.
Map 4.1 shows the number of pension recipients per 1,000 of the population by County.
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