Construction: A National Accounts Perspective 2024

Figure 1.1 shows the top ten most common occupations in the construction sector in 2022. Looking at broad occupation categories, the most popular roles in the sector were Electricians & Electrical Fitters (16.4%), Carpenters & Joiners (15.3%) and Construction & Building Trades (8.9%).

Figure 1.2 shows the top five nationalities, aside from Ireland, engaged in construction in 2006 and 2022 using the Census of Population from the respective years. Romania was the only nationality that saw an increase in its numbers since 2006, the remaining nationalities saw significant declines, most notably, Poland, whose numbers fell by 63% since 2006. In 2022, 85% of all Construction workers were Irish citizens.

The timeseries of total employment by subsector is shown in Figure 1.3. While employment has been trending upwards for all subsectors from 2012 onwards, total employment was significantly below its peak in 2007. The total number of people employed in Construction of Buildings in 2024 doubled since its lowest point in 2012, but it was still 36% below its height in 2006.

Figure 1.4 the percentage of people employed in the Construction sector as a proportion of the total number of people employed in an EU member state for 2024. Construction accounted for 6.2% of Ireland’s total employment, marginally below the EU average at 6.7%.

Average weekly earnings by subsector are shown in Figure 1.5. Average weekly earnings increased in all three subsectors in 2024. Construction of Buildings continued to have the highest earnings in construction at €1,041 per week in 2024.

Figure 1.6 compensation of employees by income distribution for each subsector of construction. In all three subsectors, most employees earned between €40,000 to €50,000 in 2024.