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Earnings

€37,646
Average annual total earnings in 2017

This chapter presents data on earnings and labour costs of employees compiled from the Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey (EHECS). The EHECS survey has been conducted since Quarter 1 2008, providing short-term trends of earnings and labour costs in the economy. These trends are published in the Earnings and Labour Costs Quarterly release while annual totals and averages are published in the Earnings and Labour Costs Annual release. EHECS data has also been used in the Historical Earnings publication which includes an earnings series from 1938 to 2015.

In this chapter, average earnings and hours worked are broken down by NACE economic sector for Q4 2016 and Q4 2017 in table 19.1. Average annual earnings and its components are broken down by NACE economic sector for 2016 and 2017 in table 19.2. The total cost of employing labour from 2012 to 2017 is illustrated in table 19.3 and real and nominal average weekly earnings from 1938 to 2017 are presented in table 19.4.

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Average Weekly Earnings Q4 2016Average Weekly Earnings Q4 2017
Industry863.29882.56
Construction750.88750.64
Wholesale & Retail571.38582.99
Transportation772.38781.47
Accommodation & Food335.04346.64
Information & Comm.1047.741113.04
Financial Activities1024.661043.03
Professional Activities884.75916.65
Administrative Activities531.42547.52
Public Admin. & Defence921.76943.25
Education812.33838.91
Health & Social684.92703.46
Arts & Entertainment475.92477.59
All sectors717.52731.86
19.1 Average earnings and hours worked by economic sector, Q4 2016 - Q4 2017

Interactive table: StatBank link

Average weekly earnings increased 2.0% to €731.86 in Q4 2017. Average weekly earnings of the main economic sectors in Q4 2017 ranged from a high of €1,113.04 in the Information and communication sector to a low of €346.64 in the Accommodation and food service activities sector. The Information and communication sector experienced the largest annual increase to Q4 2017, rising 6.2% from €1,047.74 to €1,113.04. The Construction sector saw the only fall (-€0.24) in the year from Q4 2016 to Q4 2017, decreasing from €750.88 to €750.64. See graph above and table 19.1.

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Irregular Earnings 2016Overtime Earnings 2016Regular Earnings 2016Irregular Earnings 2017Overtime Earnings 2017Regular Earnings 2017
Industry29002395392532910242739867
Construction681157136018878162435889
Wholesale & Retail169061626426162064527051
Transportation20971626357051959149536757
Accommodation & Food3882451656342821616964
Information & Comm619342549290693640849414
Financial & Real Estate473061049226459157850465
Professional & Technical257535841698292233043022
Admin & Support Service168354524868171559326182
Public Admin & Defence20621724435432287204944571
Education4642024097752321341938
Health & Social15351228327411598124433471
Arts & Entertainment114836023071101540923138
All Sectors1960989339712011101634620
19.2 Average annual total earnings by component and economic sector, 2016 - 2017

Interactive table: StatBank link

Average annual total earnings were €37,646 in 2017, up from €36,920 in 2016. This comprised of €34,620 regular earnings (92.0%), €2,011 irregular earnings (5.3%) and €1,016 overtime earnings (2.7%). 

Average annual total earnings vary widely across the economy with the highest averages in Information and communication at €56,757 and Financial, insurance and real estate at €55,634. In 2017, the Financial, insurance and real estate sector had the highest average regular earnings of €50,465 while the Information and communication sector had the highest average irregular earnings of €6,936.

The Industry sector recorded the highest average annual overtime earnings of €2,427 in 2017. The Accommodation and food services sector had average annual total earnings of €17,607, the lowest of the sectors. This comprised of €16,964 regular earnings, €216 overtime earnings and €428 irregular earnings.  

Average annual total earnings rose in 12 of the 13 economic sectors between 2016 and 2017. The largest percentage increase was 5.1% in the Administrative and support services sector where average annual earnings rose from €27,096 to €28,490. Average annual earnings in the Professional, scientific and technical sector rose by 3.7%, rising from €44,632 to €46,274. The only decrease was in the Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities sector (-0.1%) where average annual earnings fell from €24,580 to €24,563 between 2016 and 2017.  See graph above and table 19.2.

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Proportions of Total Annual Labour Costs 2017
Full time Earnings68.1
Part Time Earnings10.7
Apprentice Earnings0.6
Overtime Earnings2.3
Irregular Earnings4.6
Other Labour Costs13.8
19.3 Total annual labour costs components, 2012 - 2017

Interactive table: StatBank link

Total annual labour costs in 2017 were €77.2 billion. Full-time employee regular earnings comprised €52.5 billion (or 68.1% of total labour costs) while part-time employee regular earnings were €8.2 billion (10.7% of the total). The other main components were €10.6 billion (13.8%) other labour costs, €3.6 billion (4.6%) irregular earnings, €1.8 billion (2.3%) overtime earnings and €0.4 billion (0.6%) apprentice/trainee earnings. See graph above and table 19.3.

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Real Earnings Nominal Earnings
1938163.5249430635842.94216666666667
1939153.786279915732.84691666666667
1940138.4954979268292.95275
1941126.9772692477882.9845
1942118.654404553.08504166666667
1943117.8772476423493.444875
1944119.0097088983053.65125
1945123.3949872874153.77295833333333
1946135.7995343965524.09575
1947151.9799433631924.85245833333333
1948162.5943691246065.36045833333333
1949169.6032083333335.60916666666667
1950171.9207677018635.75733333333333
1951177.4985301005756.42408333333333
1952173.2375627976196.810375
1953173.8645954773877.19666666666667
1954178.5677065693897.413625
1955183.723006683357.826375
1956184.2200656323198.18091666666667
1957180.5896509784088.35025
1958183.4476227116098.85825
1959189.8723256083129.17045833333333
1960202.6947434069479.83191666666667
1961213.48135945649910.6415416666667
1962223.50152629077411.6152083333333
1963229.56059252929712.22375
1964237.9225094939613.5202083333333
1965237.95870944415414.2028333333333
1966251.04718553299515.4305
1967255.86570970057416.2189583333333
1968270.06355820281917.9334583333333
1969280.4462520.0025
1970301.66513508086323.2791
1971318.38833083487926.7716
1972334.87217683635130.5816
1973375.90476798855338.25
1974363.91356278399243.3125
1975391.34055519410156.3
1976396.78356411984667.35
1977409.89195406017579.06
1978435.77607003306390.47
1979444.332775049768104.46
1980444.110356701841123.4325
1981429.443358661197143.715
1982424.330475482912166.32
1983434.050898414986187.97
1984440.975938426151207.36
1985450.335878080755223.2875
1986466.927135691338240.3325
1987473.847009785675251.5475
1988487.846871223891264.525
1989486.860277337559274.77
1990490.308956140977285.895
1991496.370044591932298.68
1992499.846365670516310.155
1993520.610893468093327.5875
1994522.737410290365336.64
1995532.378318761815351.475
1996536.382824147226360.11
1997545.445954864027371.51
1998555.581248770015387.56
1999577.254381765776409.2825
2000582.792621234437436.205
2001600.003943675968470.965
2002610.605153753134501.5125
2003630.339666954223535.7425
2004645.621411585804560.77
2005652.899517487463580.8825
2006650.1360271939601.21
2007640.124557441925620.745
2008642.067202387087647.87
2009664.054872997033640.035
2010642.949016383621613.835
2011616.036951376205603.345
2012618.205676101121615.7175
2013627.692334516042628.3125
2014677.79554545973679.7975
2015685.5325685.5325
2016711.8075711.8075
2017718.860373274325721.335
19.4 Real and nominal average weekly earnings of industrial workers in the industry sector, 1938 - 2017

Real and nominal average weekly earnings of industrial workers in the industry sector over the period 1938 to 2017 is illustrated in Figure 19.4 and the annual earnings growth of the average industrial wage is presented in Figure 19.5.

Real average industrial weekly earnings increased by 340% from 1938 to 2017, which equates to an average annual growth rate in earnings of 1.9% per annum over this 79-year period. The effects of economic cycles and major economic and historic events on average weekly earnings are identifiable in Figure 19.4 and 19.5. For example, the impact of World War 2 is evident with real average earnings falling each year from 1939 to 1943.

The effect of the 1973 oil crisis can be seen with nominal average earnings increasing by 25.1% in the year; and the impact of the 2008 recession can be identified with real average earnings falling by 3.2% and 4.2% in 2010 and 2011.

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Nominal Earnings Real Earnings
1939-3.23741007194245-5.95546035082047
19403.7174721189591-9.94287786744039
19411.07526881720432-8.31668094014653
19423.36879432624113-6.55460992907801
194311.663807890223-0.654975186634356
19445.990783410138230.960712333046941
19453.333333333333343.68480725623584
19468.5553997194950710.052715577695
194718.475452196382411.9149222701984
194810.46892039258456.98409640543671
19494.639684106614034.31062849621587
19502.641509433962261.3664596273292
195111.58088235294123.24437964841108
19526.01317957166391-2.4005648387856
19535.672105672105690.361949608180768
19543.014705882352932.7050424378168
19555.567451820128492.88702823875805
19564.530087897227870.270548015701487
19572.0698576972833-1.97069447426908
19586.083650190114061.58257780427464
19593.524492234169643.502200138512
19607.212925562608226.75317888352327
19618.234660925726575.32160620855178
19629.149676777722514.69369637695098
19635.239179954441942.71097309225515
196410.60606060606063.64257509206264
19655.048923679060680.0152150169694324
19668.643815201192255.50031394917804
19675.109739368998621.91936992137519
196810.57096247960855.54894538969675
196911.5373266450283.8445363996069
197016.38095238095247.56611474778589
197115.00272776868525.54362894788428
197214.23149905123345.17727705605533
197325.07520862217812.2532100277336
197413.2352941176471-3.18995826222836
197529.985569985577.53667772101951
197619.62699822380111.39086247349061
197717.38678544914633.30366253184063
197814.43207690361756.31486315271465
197915.46368962086881.96355550594042
198018.162454528049-0.0500567053379709
198116.4320580074129-3.30255708278628
198215.7290470723307-1.19058382791721
198313.01707551707552.29076710104569
198410.31547587380971.59544422934123
19857.681086033950612.12255110517131
19867.633656160779273.68419626730419
19874.666451686725681.48200298620292
19885.159065385265222.95451087568285
19893.87297986957755-0.202234337150992
19904.048840848709830.70835082752627
19914.471921509645141.23617738877536
19923.841904379268770.700348684707982
19935.620576808370034.15418200945046
19942.763383828748030.408465679253608
19954.40678469581751.84431193973553
19962.456789245323280.752191673531035
19973.165699369637051.68967578915498
19984.320206723910551.85816648113465
19995.604938590153773.90098352738544
20006.577974870657770.959410555138693
20017.96873029882742.95324988931304
20026.486150775535341.76685673301027
20036.825353306248613.23195981556817
20044.67155396482452.42436664432388
20053.5865863009791.12730243623461
20063.49941683559069-0.423264257293016
20073.24928061742153-1.53990385599548
20084.369749252913840.303479209253499
2009-1.209347554293293.42451234515627
2010-4.0935261352895-3.17833020608017
2011-1.70892829506299-4.18572302338795
20122.050650954263310.352044584350244
20132.045580968544831.53454728444919
20148.19417089426047.98212885335269
20150.8436335820593821.14148795932589
20163.832786921116063.83278692111606
20171.338493904602010.990839977708184

Over the almost 80-year period, there were 3 occasions where multi-annual falls occurred in real average weekly earnings of industrial workers in the industry sector. These include:

  • 1939 to 1942 (World War II) when inflation outstripped the small increases in nominal earnings.
  • 1980 to 1982 (start of the 1980s recession) when large increases in nominal earnings were negated by higher wage inflation.
  • 2009 to 2011 (end of the Celtic Tiger and start of the Great Recession) when nominal pay cuts caused falls in real earnings.

Similarly, there were 3 periods where there were large multi-annual real earnings increases for industrial workers in the industry sector. These include:

  • 1946 to 1948 (post World War II) where there were large nominal earnings increases.
  • 1960s where an expanding Irish economy and increased Trade Union strength meant strong nominal and real earnings growth across the decade.
  • 1970 to 1975 where a high inflation environment drove increases in nominal earnings and Trade Union strength endeavoured for real earnings growth.

Go to next chapter >>> Tourism & Transport