This publication is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release as it may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example new administrative data sources.
Average household gross disposable income over the period 2010-2015 was €50,658.
Over the period 2010-2015, households in the top 20% of the income distribution had gross disposable incomes twice the national average. Households in the bottom 20% had gross disposable incomes which were two fifths (40%) the national average.
In 2015, the top 20% of households had gross disposable incomes which were 4.5 times higher than the bottom 20% of households. This compares to a value of 5 in 2010.
During the period 2010-2015, the most important source of income for those in the bottom 20% of the income distribution was social benefits in cash, which accounted for 70% of their gross disposable income.
In contrast, the most important contribution to gross disposable incomes for the top 20% was wages, which accounted for 95%.
From 2010-2015, expenditure on essentials such as food, beverages, housing, and energy accounted for 46% of expenditure for households in the bottom 20% of the income distribution. For the top 20%, the figure was lower at 32%.
In 2015, the top 20% of households consumed 2.1 times more than the bottom 20% of households. This compares to a value of 1.7 in 2010.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (31 March 2023) published a Frontier Series Output Household Distributional Accounts 2010-2015.
Commenting on the release, Justin Flannery, Statistician in the National Accounts Integration Division, said: “Household Distributional Accounts is an experimental release which provides distributional information on income, consumption and saving consistent with annual national accounts. Following publication of the next Household Budget Survey (HBS), the time series will be brought up to date with other national accounts releases.
The results indicate that gross disposable incomes for the top 20% of households were 4.9 times higher than the bottom 20% of households on average over the period 2010-2015. Consumption was more equal with the top 20% of households consuming 1.9 times more than the bottom 20%.
Looking at income and consumption, the results imply that only the top 40% of households had savings over the period 2010-2015.
In terms of expenditure, during that same period, spending on essentials such as food, beverages, housing, and energy accounted for 46% of expenditure for households in the bottom 20% of the income distribution. However, when looking at the top 20%, expenditure on these essential items was lower at 32%.
It is also worth noting that between 2010-2015, the most important source of income for those in the bottom 20% of the income distribution was social benefits in cash, which accounted for 70% of their gross disposable income. In contrast, the most important contribution to gross disposable income for the top 20% was compensation of employees, which accounted for 95%.”