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This chapter presents data on earnings and labour costs compiled from the Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey (EHECS) as well as the Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (EAADS). 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. The Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (EAADS) publication presents earnings statistics compiled from administrative data sources for the period 2011 to 2018.
In this chapter, average earnings and hours worked are broken down by NACE economic sector for Q4 2018 and Q4 2019 in Table 21.1. Average annual earnings and its components are broken down by NACE economic sector for 2018 and 2019 in Table 21.2. Growth in average annual earnings for full-time and part-time employees from 2014 to 2019 is illustrated in Table 21.3. Median weekly earnings from 2016 to 2018 are broken down by age and sex in Table 21.4, nationality and sex in Table 21.5, as well as county and sex in Table 21.6.
| Average Weekly Earnings Q4 2018 | Average Weekly Earnings Q4 2019 | |
| Industry | 899.52 | 915 |
| Construction | 800.5 | 841.01 |
| Wholesale & Retail | 594.03 | 602.86 |
| Transportation | 844.46 | 827.71 |
| Accommodation & Food | 354.96 | 379.14 |
| Information & Comm. | 1168.5 | 1240.01 |
| Financial Activities | 1102.87 | 1130.07 |
| Professional Activities | 924.87 | 974.01 |
| Administrative Activities | 597.85 | 625.61 |
| Public Admin. & Defence | 953 | 976.49 |
| Education | 855.3 | 881.35 |
| Health & Social | 723.39 | 750.94 |
| Arts & Entertainment | 496.83 | 522.72 |
| All sectors | 757.21 | 786.33 |
Average weekly earnings increased by 3.8% to €786.33 in Q4 2019. Average weekly earnings of the main economic sectors in Q4 2019 ranged from a high of €1,240.01 in the Information and communication sector to a low of €379.14 in the Accommodation and food service activities sector. The Accommodation and food service activities sector experienced the largest annual increase to Q4 2019, rising by 6.8% from €354.96 to €379.14. The Transportation and Storage sector saw a decrease of 2% in the year from Q4 2018 to Q4 2019, falling from €844.46 to €827.71.
Interactive table: StatBank EHA05
Link to release: Earnings and Labour Costs
| X-axis label | Irregular Earnings 2018 | Overtime Earnings 2018 | Regular Earnings 2018 | Irregular Earnings 2019 | Overtime Earnings 2019 | Regular Earnings 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industry | 2991.71044162271 | 2439.65708406879 | 40967.1325898564 | 3017.24454739881 | 2291.915966677 | 41794.4678761017 |
| Construction | 899.58168298976 | 1832.39037865807 | 37828.862092367 | 957.435675085053 | 2119.29359719244 | 38609.7303543399 |
| Wholesale & Retail | 1738.96130526284 | 669.544630151939 | 27482.2815204195 | 2083.01210649721 | 649.732878941278 | 28269.4880565705 |
| Transportation | 2304.70643173472 | 1561.21072812773 | 38282.2746129821 | 2050.91564152762 | 1570.73850234887 | 39505.2978392521 |
| Accommodation & Food | 493.379526954432 | 197.210395331908 | 17570.9904310433 | 413.920359871243 | 229.281183640062 | 18510.0031471116 |
| Information & Comm | 9006.57922370066 | 375.785988269029 | 51887.0718365967 | 9886.30447515512 | 447.451716319142 | 54011.4778167245 |
| Financial & Real Estate | 5433.3449697531 | 559.94022445596 | 52585.0880517549 | 5353.95884583029 | 538.056725397497 | 54516.9629447745 |
| Professional & Technical | 3362.06939539552 | 398.327906102563 | 43870.7951587216 | 3040.89597672746 | 428.501767317502 | 45786.2842223604 |
| Admin & Support Service | 1921.73283878849 | 713.952127245662 | 26987.7365005329 | 2311.48200295791 | 839.381974486331 | 28919.6990382641 |
| Public Admin & Defence | 2415.98122989637 | 2010.16260637292 | 45297.4861781751 | 2317.37055458491 | 1857.9197237579 | 46200.9338433051 |
| Education | 463.96618951331 | 216.729942609187 | 43372.6607060906 | 494.536164938965 | 186.450296813178 | 44063.6413428829 |
| Health & Social | 1601.82970454585 | 1340.25061323499 | 34334.687263672 | 1822.30044863793 | 1308.83215744896 | 35259.104811688 |
| Arts & Entertainment | 1066.22293008528 | 429.01901398136 | 23883.1202013719 | 1106.62465019997 | 359.744742672775 | 24852.1082232531 |
| All Sectors | 2207.13421929577 | 1049.19952735396 | 35615.0339741911 | 2328.68396344068 | 1044.72342419222 | 36909.6294630085 |
Average annual total earnings were €40,283 in 2019, up from €38,871 in 2018. This comprised of €36,910 regular earnings (91.6%), €2,329 irregular earnings (5.8%) and €1,045 overtime earnings (2.6%).
Average annual total earnings vary widely across the economy with the highest averages in the Information and communication sector at €64,345 and the Financial, insurance and real estate sector at €60,409. The Financial, insurance and real estate sector had the highest average regular earnings of €54,517 while the Information and communication sector had the highest average irregular earnings of €9,886. The Industry sector recorded the highest average annual overtime earnings of €2,292 in 2019. The Accommodation and food services sector had average annual total earnings of €19,153, the lowest of the sectors. This comprised of €18,510 regular earnings, €229 overtime earnings and €414 irregular earnings.
Average annual total earnings rose in all 13 economic sectors in 2019. The largest percentage increase was 8.3% in the Administrative and support services sector where average annual earnings rose from €29,623 to €32,071, followed by an increase of 5% from €61,269 to €64,345 in the Information and communication sector. The Public administration and defence sector recorded the lowest average annual earnings growth of 1.3% in the year increasing from €49,724 to €50,376.
Interactive table: StatBank EHA05
Link to release: Earnings and Labour Costs
| Proportions of Total Annual Labour Costs 2019 | |
| Full time Earnings | 68.3 |
| Part Time Earnings | 10.1 |
| Apprentice Earnings | 0.6 |
| Overtime Earnings | 2.2 |
| Irregular Earnings | 5 |
| Other Labour Costs | 13.8 |
Total annual labour costs in 2019 were €88.7 billion. Full-time employee regular earnings comprised €60.6 billion (or 68.3% of total labour costs) while part-time employee regular earnings were €9 billion (10.1% of the total). The other main components were €12.2 billion (13.8%) other labour costs, €4.4 billion (5.0%) irregular earnings, €2 billion (2.2%) overtime earnings and €0.5 billion (0.6%) apprentice/trainee earnings. See figure and table 19.3.
Interactive table: StatBank EHA04
Link to release: Earnings and Labour Costs
The age group with the highest median weekly earnings in 2018 was the 40-49 year olds at €718.46 which was a rise of 3.0% from €697.52 in 2017. The age group with the next highest median was the 50-59 year age group at €680.44 in 2018. The age group with the lowest median weekly earnings was the 15-24 year olds at €294.15 in 2018.
Males and females in the 40-49 year age group both had the highest median earnings at €814.04 and €619.87 respectively with the median for males in that age group 31.3% higher than for females.
The 50-59 year age group for males saw the next highest median at €807.67 while the next highest median for females was €612.05 in the 30-39 year age group.
Interactive table: StatBank NSA87
Link to publication: Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources
Median weekly earnings in 2018 were highest amongst UK nationals at €634.15 followed by Irish nationals for whom median weekly earnings were 2.4% lower at €619.18. Males from the UK recorded median earnings 43.2% higher than females from the UK while the median for Irish males was 28.0% higher than for Irish females.
Interactive table: StatBank NSA88
Link to publication: Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources
Median weekly earnings for County Dublin were €645.78 in 2018. This was 9.0% higher than the average for the State, at €592.60, and 36.5% higher than Donegal which, at €473.12, had the lowest median weekly earnings.
Kildare county recorded the highest median weekly earnings for males in 2018 at €724.87 followed by Dublin county at €714.67. The lowest median weekly earnings for males was recorded in Donegal at €513.46; this was 29.2% lower than the Kildare figure. The highest median weekly earnings for females was in Dublin county at €573.00 which was 35.4% higher than the lowest median of €423.07 recorded for females in Donegal.
Interactive table: StatBank NEA08
Link to publication: Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources
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