Average hourly earnings rose by 3.4% to €31.22 in Q4 2025, up from €30.18 in Q4 2024.
For youths aged 15-24 years, the unemployment rate in Q4 2025 was 9.8%.
The lowest GDP per capita in 2024 was in the Border region at €32,617, while the highest was in Dublin at €182,305.
According to provisional HSA data (subject to change), there were 61 fatal injuries in the workplace in 2025 and 10,441 non-fatal injuries in 2024.
Data from the Central Bank of Ireland show that the number of debit and credit cards in active use increased from 6.79 million to 9.93 million between November 2022 and November 2025, an increase of over 3.1 million.
This publication ‘Ireland's UN SDGs – Goal 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, 2024’ is the eighth in a series from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). These publications monitor and report on how Ireland is progressing towards meeting its targets under the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the United Nations (UN).
The CSO and Government Departments and Organisations collaborate to bring together data required in these reports for Ireland’s SDGs. This collaboration is formalised under the SDG Data Governance Board, which meets on a quarterly basis.
This eighth publication includes data for Ireland for each of the SDG indicators selected by the UN to measure 'Goal 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth'. Data is available at various levels of detail which include geography, gender, age group and other categories, where applicable. This publication was developed in collaboration with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
This report on Goal 8 has sixteen indicators (See Table of Contents), which are organised into four user friendly chapters:
Employment Rights and Policies
The titles of these chapters are based around common themes in the twelve targets which are measured in Goal 8.
The previous reports published in the series are the 17 publications with Ireland's UN SDGs data.
The 17 UN SDGs are a set of global development targets adopted by the United Nations (UN) member countries in September 2015 to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. The UN SDGs are driving the global development agenda towards 2030 (Agenda 2030). They address global challenges including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The 17 goals are all interconnected, and in order to leave no one behind, the aim is to achieve them all by 2030. They recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and help economic growth, while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (May 08 2025) published Ireland's UN SDGs indicators data for Goal 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth.
Commenting on the release, Mary Smyth, Statistician, said:
"This latest release on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) has data on twelve targets for Ireland, divided over four chapters: Economic Growth, Decent Work, Employment Rights and Policies, and Infrastructure. Data are presented in categories relevant to the indicators and geographical location, where possible. The UN SDGs and their associated indicators are, by design, wide-ranging in their coverage. As a result, the Irish data is provided by a number of sources including government departments, official organisations, and international organisations such as the UN. This release for Goal 8 was developed in collaboration with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment."
The Results
CSO data showed average hourly earnings rose by 3.4% to €31.22 in Q4 2025, from €30.18 in Q4 2024. Employees in larger enterprises were more likely to earn more. Average hourly earnings in Q4 2025 were €34.72 in firms with more than 250 employees compared with €26.91 in firms with less than 50 employees.
In Q4 2025, the CSO Labour Force Survey showed the unemployment rate was similar for males and females, at 4.4% and 4.3% respectively. Unemployment among youths aged 15-24 years in this period, showed the male unemployment rate of 10.1% was higher than the female unemployment rate of 9.4%.
CSO National Accounts data show that at current market prices, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita increased by 5.3% to €104,603 in 2024, while Gross National Product (GNP) per capita rose by 6.1% to €78,469. At constant market prices, GDP per capita increased by 0.7% to €100,063 in 2024, while GNP per capita rose by 1.4% to €75,026.
In 2024, a total of 10,441 non-fatal workplace accidents were reported to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA). Of these, 96% related to workers. The highest number of accidents were reported in the NACE economic sector Health and Social Work, which accounted for 23% of all injuries. HSA data (subject to change), reported 61 fatal injuries in the workplace in 2025.
Data from the Central Bank of Ireland show that the number of credit cards in active use increased from 1.51 million in November 2022 to 1.62 million by November 2025. Over this time period, the total number of cards (debit and credit) increased from 6.79 million to 9.93 million, an increase of over 3.1 million.