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 also provides a number of key national poverty indicators, such as the at risk of poverty rate and the consistent poverty rate. SILC was conducted by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for the first time in 2003 under EU legislation (Council regulation No. 1177/2003). The survey is currently being conducted on an annual basis in order to monitor changes in income and living conditions over time. This chapter presents the 2012 results along with comparative information for previous years. The survey is also carried out in other EU member states allowing comparable statistics to be compiled on a pan-European basis.
| X-axis label | Household disposable income | Equivalised disposable income per individual |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 740.35 | 359.78 |
| 2005 | 776.11 | 378.85 |
| 2006 | 836.44 | 406.84 |
| 2007 | 919.66 | 452.47 |
| 2008 | 939.89 | 467.24 |
| 2009 | 880.78 | 447.03 |
| 2010 | 826.96 | 424.26 |
| 2011 | 801.43 | 410.88 |
| 2012 | 776.26 | 399.69 |
Interactive table: StatBank link
Weekly equivalised disposable income per person was €399.69 in 2012, a decline of 2.7% on the 2011 value of €410.88 and a decline of 14.5% from a peak of €467.24 in 2008.
Weekly household disposable income in 2012 was €776.26, a decline of 3.1% on the 2011 value. Household disposable income peaked in 2008 at €939.89 and decreased by 17.4% between 2008 and 2012.
| X-axis label | At risk of poverty rate | Deprivation rate | Consistent poverty rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 19.4 | 14.1 | 6.6 |
| 2005 | 18.3 | 14.8 | 7 |
| 2006 | 17 | 14 | 6.6 |
| 2007 | 16.5 | 11.8 | 5.1 |
| 2008 | 14.4 | 13.7 | 4.2 |
| 2009 | 14.1 | 17.1 | 5.5 |
| 2010 | 14.7 | 22.6 | 6.3 |
| 2011 | 16 | 24.5 | 6.9 |
| 2012 | 16.5 | 26.9 | 7.7 |
Interactive table: StatBank link
The graph shows ’at risk of poverty’, deprivation and consistent poverty rates for each year from 2004 to 2012. In 2012, the ‘at risk of poverty’ rate was 16.5% compared to 16.0% in 2011. ‘At risk of poverty’ rates have been increasing gradually since 2009 when the rate was 14.1%.
Almost 27% of the population experienced two or more types of enforced deprivation in 2012. This compares with 24.5% in 2011 and a six year low of 11.8% in 2007. The consistent poverty rate was 7.7% in 2012 compared to 6.9% in 2011. Consistent poverty rates have been increasing since 2008 when the rate was 4.2%.
| 8.3 Income inequality indicators | |||||||||
| Statistic | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
| Gini coefficient (%) | 31.7 | 32.3 | 32.4 | 31.7 | 30.6 | 29.3 | 31.4 | 31.1 | 31.2 |
| Income quintile share ratio | 4.9 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 5.0 |
| Source: CSO | |||||||||
The Gini coefficient is the relationship between cumulative shares of the population (ranked according to the level of income from lowest to highest) and the cumulative share of total income received by them. If there was perfect equality (i.e. each person receives the same income) the Gini coefficient would be 0%. A Gini coefficient of 100% would indicate that there was total inequality and the entire national income was in the hands of one person.
In 2012, the Gini coefficient was 31.2%, not a statistically significant change on the 2011 value of 31.1%.
The income quintile share ratio is the share of income of the highest quintile i.e. the highest 20%, divided by the share of income of the lowest quintile i.e. the lowest 20%, and was 5.0 in 2012. The corresponding figure was 4.9 in 2011.
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