The estimated number of females in employment stood at 1,328,900 in Q4 2025, an 82.1% increase from 729,900 reported in Q4 2000.
The number of women who reported their Principal Economic Status as "engaged in home duties" decreased by 61.8% from 520,500 in 2010 to 198,800 in 2025.
In Q4 2025, females accounted for 41.7% of persons in full-time employment, and 67.1% of persons in part-time employment.
Females represented over three-quarters (75.9%) of employees in the Human Health & Social Work sector, and just under three-quarters of the Education sector (74.9%) in Q4 2025.
More than six in ten (63.6%) females in employment had a third level degree compared with 52.8% of males in Q4 2025.
Median weekly earnings among female employments rose by 39.2% between 2014 (€469.85) and 2024 (€654.07). This compares with an increase of 36.5% in median weekly earnings among male employments over the same period, from €587.52 in 2014 to €802.14 in 2024.
The proportion of females among the top 1% of earners increased by five percentage points from 22.6% in 2019 to 27.6% in 2024, while the proportion of females in employments with earnings in the top 10% rose from 27.9% to 30.6% over the same period.
In 2022, the Gender Pay Gap (GPG), which was measured as the average difference between male and female hourly earnings, was 9.6%, with mean hourly earnings for males at €27.73 and €25.06 for females.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a continuous nationwide survey of households in Ireland, primarily designed to produce quarterly labour force estimates that include the official measures of employment and unemployment in the state in accordance with International Labour Organisation (ILO) concepts and definitions.
The most recent iteration of the LFS showed that the number of women in employment has increased by 82.1% since Q4 2000 from 729,900 to 1,328,900 in Q4 2025, compared with an increase of 42.2% for males. The number of females in unemployment was 59,100 in Q4 2025, up 15.7% on the same quarter in 2024 (See Table QLF01).
In Q4 2025, females accounted for 41.7% (937,700) of persons in full-time employment, and 67.1% (391,200) of persons in part-time employment (See Table QES24).
The reason for being in part-time employment varied among females, with the greatest proportion of those in part-time employment citing ‘looking after children or incapacitated adults’ (29.7%) as the main reason, followed by ‘school, education or training’ (22.7%). This compares with 7.0% of men who stated their main reason for being in part-time employment as ‘looking after children or incapacitated adults’, and 35.5% who said it was for ‘school, education or training’ (See Table QES25).
The most recent Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources release showed that median weekly earnings among females stood at €654.07 in 2024, an increase of 39.2% since 2014 (€469.85). This compares with an increase of 36.5% in median weekly earnings among males in the same period (See Table NSA85).
Employments in the Information & Communication sector recorded the highest median weekly earnings among females each year since 2016. Median weekly earnings for employments among females in the Information & Communication sector have increased by 71.2%, from €719.35 in 2014 to €1,231.35 in 2024. In contrast, employments in the Accommodation & Food Services sector have consistently recorded the lowest median weekly earnings among females, increasing by 34.0%, from €252.24 in 2014 to €337.96 in 2024 (See Table NSA85).
While median weekly earnings were highest in the Information & Communication sector, it was the Human Health & Social Work sector that recorded the highest proportion of female employment. Females represented 76.3% of employments in the Human Health & Social Work sector, and 73.1% of the Education sector in 2024. The most recent Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources release showed that median weekly earnings among females in the Human Health & Social Work and Education sectors stood at €771.43 and €857.56, respectively, in 2024.
The Construction sector had the lowest female representation at 9.8%. However, the sector recorded the largest percentage increase in female employees in the past decade, rising from 6,400 in Q4 2015 to 18,900 in Q4 2025, while the median weekly earnings have increased by 54.0%, rising from €374.00 in 2014 to €575.91 in 2024. In contrast, the number of female employees in the Wholesale & Retail Trade sector has risen by 1.9% over the same period, from 150,600 in Q4 2015 to 153,500 in Q4 2025 while the sector’s median weekly earnings increased by 39.9% from 2014 to 2024 (See Tables QLF07 and NSA85).
A greater proportion of female employments were at the lower end of the earnings distribution compared with their male counterparts. In 2024, almost one in three female employments (29.4%) had weekly earnings of less than €450, compared with almost one in five male employments (17.6%).
The CSO’s Structure of Earnings (SES) 2022 release details the gender pay gap, abbreviated as GPG, which refers to the official measure of difference in average hourly wages between males and females. It is a measure across all jobs and characteristics in Ireland, not of the difference in pay between males and females doing the same job. The GPG in Ireland for 2022 was 9.6%. The mean earnings in 2022 for males were €27.73 with 35.7 mean paid weekly hours while the mean earnings for females were €25.06 with 30.1 mean paid weekly hours (See Table SES03).
The CSO’s Distribution of Earnings by Gender and County release shows that, since 2019, the proportion of females among the top 1% of earners increased by five percentage points from 22.6% in 2019 to 27.6% in 2024. The proportion of females in employments with earnings in the top 10% rose from 27.9% in 2019 to 30.6% in 2024 (See Table DEA02). Meanwhile, the Gender Balance in Business Survey shows that Irish businesses continue to increase female representation at Senior Executive and Board level. In 2025, almost one in five (19.2%) Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) were female, compared with 11.5% in 2019. There was also an increase in the overall number of female Senior Executives, rising to 32.3% in 2025 from 28.3% in 2019. (See GBA01).
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (06 March 2026) published Women in the Labour Market for 2024 and 2025.
Commenting on the release, Colin Hanley, statistician in the Labour Market & Earnings (LME) Division, said: “This release aims to provide insights on women in the labour market, in terms of both employment and earnings, by combining and analysing statistics provided in existing releases such as the Labour Force Survey (LFS), Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (EAADS), and Structure of Earnings Survey (SES) which are produced by the Labour Market & Earnings Division of the CSO.
Employment
The CSO’s LFS presents labour force estimates, including official measures of employment and unemployment on a quarterly basis. The most recent iteration of the LFS showed that the number of women in employment has increased by 82.1% since Q4 2000 from 729,900 to 1,328,900 in Q4 2025. This compares with a 49.8% increase in females 15 years and over in the population. The Human Health & Social Work Sector had the highest number of female employees, followed by the Education sector, with women representing around three-quarters of employees in both sectors in 2025.
The changing dynamic of women in the workforce is evident through several key trends. Since 2010, the number of women reporting their Principal Economic Status as “engaged in home duties” has fallen by 61.8%, from 520,500 to 198,800 in 2025. Meanwhile, the number of married women in employment has risen by 24.7% over the five years from Q4 2020 to Q4 2025. More than six in ten (63.6%) females in employment hold a third-level degree, compared with 52.8% of males, while the number of women working at least sometimes from home has also surged by 114.6% since before the pandemic, compared with a 68.0% increase for men.
Meanwhile, the Gender Balance in Business Survey shows that Irish businesses continue to have increased female representation at Senior Executive and Board level. In 2025, almost one in five (19.2%) of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) were female compared with 11.5% in 2019. There was also an increase in the overall proportion of female Senior Executives in 2025, rising to 32.3% in 2025 from 28.3% in 2019. At board level, more than one in four members (27.9%) of Boards of Directors in Ireland were female, up from 19.6% in 2019 (See Table GBA01)."
Earnings
Commenting further on the findings, Dr Eimear Heffernan, statistician in the Labour Market & Earnings Division said: "In terms of earnings, the median weekly earnings for employments among females stood at €654.07 in 2024, an increase of 39.2% over the past decade since 2014 (€469.85). This compares with an increase of 36.5% in median weekly earnings among male employments over the same period, from €587.52 in 2014 to €802.14 in 2024.
While we see that Human Health & Social Work sector had the highest number of female employees, it was employments in the Information & Communication sector that had the highest median weekly earnings among females (€1,231.35) in 2024. This has increased by 71.2% in the past decade, from €719.35 in 2014. In contrast, employments in the Accommodation & Food Services sector consistently recorded the lowest median weekly earnings among females over the past 10 years, rising by 34.0% between 2014 (€252.24) and 2024 (€337.96) (See Table NSA85).
In terms of nationality groups that contributed at least 1.0% to the total earnings across three consecutive years, employments held by Indian females had the highest median weekly earnings in 2024 at €919.27, followed by employments held by Irish (€677.02), and UK nationals (€646.01). The Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources 2024 release noted that Indian females (€919.27) were the only nationality group who recorded median weekly earnings higher than those of their male counterparts (€821.96), a trend which has been observed since 2020 (See Table NSA91).
Overall, a greater proportion of female employments were at the lower end of the earnings distribution compared with their male counterparts. Almost one in three female employments (29.4%) had weekly earnings of less than €450, compared with almost one in five male employments (17.6%). In the past five years, the proportion of females among the top 1% of earners increased by five percentage points from 22.6% in 2019 to 27.6% in 2024, while the proportion of females in employments with earnings in the top 10% rose from 27.9% to 30.6% over the same period (See Table DEA02).”