This chapter contains information on average weekly, hourly and annual earnings of employees. Data is drawn from the Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey (EHECS). The EHECS survey has been in operation from quarter 1 2008 and provides information on short-term earnings data and overall average levels of earnings. Following the introduction of the EHECS survey the CSO has wound down various sectoral inquiries which had been in use historically to produce earnings data for subsectors of the economy. The benefits of this change are that all sectors series can be estimated and additionally different sectors can now be compared on a consistent basis. Also, it is now possible to estimate hourly earnings across all sectors of the economy, while some of the previous inquiries only allowed the estimation of weekly earnings.
| Nace | Q4 2012 | Q4 2013 |
|---|---|---|
| B-E | 823.56 | 831.61 |
| F | 704.06 | 731.42 |
| G | 519.38 | 533.33 |
| H | 718.81 | 755.77 |
| I | 319.67 | 316.12 |
| J | 994.77 | 1002.93 |
| K-L | 970.62 | 976.15 |
| M | 790.61 | 817.30 |
| N | 512.03 | 487.46 |
| O | 926.43 | 925.68 |
| P | 828.13 | 816.92 |
| Q | 695.10 | 671.36 |
| R-S | 458.39 | 486.43 |
| All sectors | 691.74 | 688.78 |
Interactive table: StatBank link
Average weekly earnings in Q4 2013 ranged from a high of €1,002.93 in the Information and communication sector to a low of €316.12 in the the Accommodation and food service sector.
Average hours worked per week varied from a low of 23.8 hours in the Education sector and 25.8 hours in the Accommodation and food services activities sector to a high of 38.0 in the Industry sector. The lower hours reflect differences in contracted hours in the case of the Education sector and the high level of part-time workers in the case of the Accommodation and food service activities sector.
Overall average hourly earnings in Q4 2013 were €21.73, a slight decrease of €0.16 from Q4 2012, while average hours worked was virtually unchanged, increasing from 31.6 to 31.7 over the same period.
Regular earnings accounted for 80.1% of average annual total labour costs in 2013. Overtime earnings represented 2.2% of the average annual total labour cost. Irregular earnings made up 4.2% of the total, while the remaining 13.5% was comprised of other labour costs which include statutory employers PRSI, other social costs, benefits in kind, redundancy payments and other employer labour costs. See graph.
| Regular Earnings | 80.0835083146284 |
|---|---|
| Overtime Earnings | 2.15770038375208 |
| Irregular Earnings | 4.23816764414838 |
| Total Other Labour Costs | 13.523037192576 |
Interactive table: StatBank link
| 5 Year % change | |
| J | 2.48280360553621 |
| Q | 0.253990547030258 |
| N | -3.47071383999923 |
| P | -4.73256408613633 |
| M | -8.76471647621804 |
| B-E | -10.5430601620043 |
| G | -11.0876892079122 |
| K-L | -12.1706978669814 |
| R-S | -12.6035066415693 |
| Total | -13.3644550819715 |
| O | -13.672098285998 |
| H | -13.6853394059032 |
| I | -19.0033189839954 |
| F | -63.1683517439655 |
Interactive table: StatBank link
Total annual labour costs fell each year from 2008 to 2011, a decrease of 16.8%, it then rose 4.1% in the two years 2012 and 2013.
In 2013 total annual labour costs of €64,895.1 million was 13.4% lower than the 2008 value of €74,905.9 million. The largest decrease was in the Construction sector where a drop of 63.2% was recorded from €6,551.8 million in 2008 to €2,413.1 million in 2013, reflecting a drop in employment of 53.5% (from 127,700 in Q4 2008 to 59,400 in Q4 2013). The largest increase of 2.5% was recorded in the Information and communication sector from €3,773.8 million to €3,867.5 million.
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