SILC data 2020 to 2022 was revised on 7 March 2024 due to changes made to weights, reflecting updated household population benchmarks, because of the availability of Census 2022 data. The data in this publication does not reflect these revisions. For revised data please see SILC 2023 or PxStat.
The Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) in Ireland is a household survey covering a broad range of issues in relation to income and living conditions. It is the official source of data on household and individual income and provides a number of key national poverty indicators, such as the at risk of poverty rate, the consistent poverty rate and rates of enforced deprivation. This report presents the results for 2021, using an income reference period of the 2020 calendar year.
In SILC, weights are applied to the data to ensure the results are reflective of the population as a whole. The weights for 2020 SILC have been revised to better reflect the tenure distribution of the population. While this has not impacted the overall 2020 at risk of poverty rate, it has resulted in a reduction of the published material deprivation and consistent poverty rates. See Background Notes .
The at risk of poverty rate was 11.6% in SILC 2021, compared with 13.2% in 2020.
Without COVID-19 income supports, the at risk of poverty rate would have been 19.9%.
Enforced deprivation was experienced by 13.8% of the population.
Four in ten households (42.0%) said they had at least some difficulty in making ends meet.
The median disposable household income in SILC 2021 was €46,471, an increase of €2,556 (+5.8%) from 2020 (€43,915).
The poorest 20% of the population had 9.6% of the nation’s equivalised disposable income, while the richest 20% had 36.5%.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (06 May 2022) issued results from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) for 2021.
The SILC household survey is the official source of data on household and individual income, and it provides a number of key national poverty indicators, such as; the at risk of poverty rate, the rate of enforced deprivation and the consistent poverty rate. Income and poverty estimates from SILC 2021 are calculated from 2020 calendar year income.
Commenting on today’s publication, Eva O’Regan, Statistician, said:
In SILC 2021, the at risk of poverty rate was 11.6%, a 1.6 percentage point decrease from the 2020 rate (13.2%). Without COVID-19 income supports the 2021 at risk of poverty rate would have been 19.9%, more than eight percentage points higher than the 11.6% rate.
Of households that pay rent, 16.2% reported that they did not pay their rent on time on at least one occasion in the last 12 months due to financial difficulties. Of owner-occupied households with an outstanding mortgage, 5.3% reported that on at least one occasion they did not pay their mortgage on time, due to financial difficulties in the last 12 months.
One in 20 (5.6%) households said they experience ‘great difficulty’ in making ends meet while one in six (15.9%) households consisting of one adult with children experienced this.”
For further commentary, see Press Statement .