The income reference period of SILC in year T is the calendar year T-1, i.e. for SILC 2025 the income relates to calendar year Jan-Dec 2024.
Tá leagan Gaeilge den leathanach seo ar fáil. Féach Suirbhé ar Ioncam agus Dálaí Maireachtála (SILC) 2025.
The at risk of poverty rate was 12.6% in the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2025, up from 11.7% in 2024 and the 10.6% rate in 2023.
If cost-of-living measures were excluded from income, the at risk of poverty rate would have been 14.9% in SILC 2025.
The consistent poverty rate, those people who are both at risk of poverty and experiencing enforced deprivation, was 4.7% in 2025, compared with 5.0% in 2024 and 3.6% in 2023. The consistent poverty rate for children aged 0-17 was 7.8% in 2025, down from 8.5% in 2024.
The 10% of households with the lowest disposable income had an average nominal disposable income of €329 per week, compared with €3,496 per week for the 10% of households with the highest disposable income.
The median nominal household disposable income in SILC 2025 was €61,666, up €2,744 (+4.7%) from SILC 2024. Adjusting for inflation real median nominal household disposable income increased by 2.4% in SILC 2025.
In SILC 2025, the quintile share ratio stood at 3.9, up 0.1 percentage point from 2024. This indicates that the total income of the richest 20% was almost four times that of the poorest 20%.
| X-axis label | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At risk of poverty rate | 12.5 | 10.6 | 11.7 | 12.6 |
| Enforced deprivation rate | 16.6 | 17.3 | 15.7 | 15.1 |
| Consistent poverty rate | 4.9 | 3.6 | 5.0 | 4.7 |
| Deprivation rate for those at risk of poverty | 38.9 | 33.8 | 43.1 | 37.4 |
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. This release focuses on income related indicators. The enforced deprivation results were published on 08 December 2025, revisions to estimates will be published alongside the main SILC 2025 publication on 11 March 2026 and are available in the SILC Enforced Deprivation 2025 release.
Data collection for SILC was carried out between January to July 2025. The income reference period for SILC 2025 is the calendar year 2024. Gross income includes social transfers plus market income, such as employment, pension income, employer’s social insurance, pension contributions, and other income. Cost-of-living measures introduced in 2024, such as energy credits and increased or additional social welfare payments and allowances are included in social transfers. These cost-of-living income measures introduced by the government to mitigate the negative impact of the cost-of-living crisis on household incomes affected households across the whole income distribution and particularly households with people aged 65 years and over. See Chapter 6 for analysis of the impacts of the cost-of-living income measures.
The annual SILC results are weighted using population estimates which are generated on an ongoing basis trended forward from the Census of Population 2022 results and supplementary information sources.
For further information, please see Background Notes.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (11 March 2026) published results from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) for 2025.
SILC is the CSO’s annual 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 key national indicators on poverty, deprivation, and income inequality. The results published today relate to data collected in the first seven months of 2025 and income received in the 2024 calendar year.
SILC results are based on a nationally representative sample of households and are weighted to reflect the population. As with all sample surveys, the findings are statistical estimates rather than exact measures of the population. Small year-to-year changes should therefore be interpreted with appropriate caution, and trends over time provide a more reliable indication of underlying developments.
Commenting on today’s release, Darragh Turner, Statistician in the Income, Consumption and Wealth Division, said: “Today’s results from the CSO’s SILC 2025 show an increase in household income of 4.7% to €61,666 from €58,992 in 2024. When adjusted for inflation we see that real household income also went up by 2.4% in the year.
While household income increased, the proportion of people at risk of poverty also rose in 2025 to 12.6% compared with 11.7% in 2024. If cost-of-living measures such as energy credits or increased/additional social welfare payments paid to eligible households in 2024 were excluded, the at risk of poverty rate would have been higher (14.9%).
The enforced deprivation rate decreased in SILC 2025 while the at risk of poverty rate increased. Looking at the overlap of these measures shows that the consistent poverty rate, those at risk of poverty and in enforced deprivation, decreased in the year. The release also highlights the higher incidence of the risk of poverty amongst certain groups such as people unable to work due to long-standing health problems; the unemployed; single-adult households; and those in rented accommodation.
Household Income in 2025
The median nominal household disposable income in SILC 2025, covering the January to December 2024 income reference period, was €61,666. This represented an increase of €2,744 (+4.7%) from the 2024 estimate of €58,922. However, when adjusted for inflation, the median real household disposable income in SILC 2025 was €51,624. This was up €1,218 (+2.4%) when compared with 2024. Please note that a glossary of terms is available in our Survey on Income and Living Conditions Fact Sheet.
On average, households received €1,736 (87.7% of gross weekly income) from market income sources such as employment, occupational pension, private pension, and €244 (12.3% of gross income) from social transfers such as State Pensions, Child Benefit, Disability Benefit, or Job Seekers’ Benefit payments. After deducting payments for tax, social insurance contributions, pension contributions, and inter-household transfers, the average weekly disposable income was €1,374. However, this varied considerably by decile, where households are ranked from lowest disposable income to highest and divided into 10 equally sized groups.
The 10% of households with the lowest disposable income (i.e. the first decile) had a mean weekly nominal gross income of €363. This was composed of an average €102 (28.2% of gross income) from market income and €261 (71.8% of gross income) from social transfers. After deductions, these households had an average net disposable income of €329 per week.
Households in the tenth or highest income bracket had a mean weekly gross income of €5,787, composed of an average €5,665 (97.9%) market income and €122 (2.1%) in social transfers. After deductions, households in the tenth decile had an average €3,496 in disposable income.
The median equivalised disposable income in SILC 2025 was €31,767, up €1,771 (5.9%) from 2024. The corresponding at risk of poverty threshold (i.e. 60% of the median) stood at €19,060 in SILC 2025, compared with €17,998 in SILC 2024.
Income Inequality rose slightly in 2025
The Quintile Share Ratio was 3.9 in SILC 2025, up 0.1 percentage point from SILC 2024, indicating that the richest 20% of people had 3.9 times the income of the poorest 20%.
The Gini coefficient in SILC 2025 was 27.4%, compared with 26.9% in 2024. The Gini coefficient measures income equality across the entire income distribution, with 0% indicating perfect equality (i.e. that income is distributed equally amongst all people) and 100% representing perfect inequality (i.e. that all the income is held by one person).
Risk of Poverty rate rose in 2025
In SILC 2025, the at risk of poverty rate was 12.6%, compared with 11.7% in 2024, 10.6% in 2023, 12.5% in 2022, and 11.8% in 2021.
Looking at factors such as employment status, household composition, and tenure, CSO analysis reveals significant differences.
Self-defined economic status: Three in ten unemployed people (29.3%) and a similar proportion of people who were unable to work due to long-standing health problems (28.4%) were at risk of poverty in SILC 2025. This compares with an at risk of poverty rate of 5.7% for those who described themselves as employed.
Household composition: The at risk of poverty rate was highest in households composed of one adult aged 65 years and over (30.3%), followed by households of one adult aged 64 or under (20.0%). The rate was lowest for those living in households with two adults, both aged under 65 (5.2%).
Tenure: People living in rented or rent-free accommodation were more likely to be at risk of poverty at 24.2% when compared with those living in owner-occupied accommodation (7.4%).
Consistent Poverty rates higher for those with Long-Standing Health Problems
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 2025 was 4.7%, compared with 5.0% for 2024 and 3.6% in 2023.
Analysis by self-defined economic status shows that the consistent poverty rate was highest among unemployed people (18.1%) and people who were unable to work due to long-standing health problems (13.9%), while it was lowest amongst those who were employed (1.5%) and those who had retired (3.0%).
Analysis by age group shows that the consistent poverty rate was highest among children aged 0 to 17 years (7.8%) and those aged 35 to 49 (4.7%), while it was lowest amongst those aged 65 years and over and those aged 18 to 34 (3.4%).
Analysis by tenure status shows that the consistent poverty rate for people living in rented accommodation was 12.2% compared with 1.4% of those living in owner-occupied dwellings.
Impact of Cost-of-Living income measures
Excluding cost-of-living measures, the at risk of poverty rate (using the standard at risk of poverty threshold of €19,060) would have been 14.9% in SILC 2025, compared with the rate of 12.6% when measures such as energy credits or increased/additional social welfare supports were included.
Analysis of the impact of the cost-of-living measures on reducing the at risk of poverty rates by age group shows that the largest impact was for people aged 65 years and older. Cost-of-living measures reduced the at risk of poverty rate for people in this age group from 20.7% to 14.8%. Cost-of-living measures had the least impact on reducing the poverty rates of those aged 18 to 34. Excluding cost-of-living measures, the at risk of poverty rate for people aged 18 to 34 would have been 10.0%. Including cost-of-living measures, their poverty rate was 9.3%.”