This release is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output and is based on linking administrative income data with the 2022 Census population living in private households. When calculating household income, estimates for some households are underestimated, as not all income sources are included, such as undeclared employment income, inter-household transfers, and some foreign pensions. Throughout this release, the term administrative income will be used to describe the income sources covered.
Equivalised income allows for a more meaningful comparison of income across households by accounting for the number of adults and children living in the household, thus allowing for analysis at an individualised level. The term low-income threshold refers to households with an equivalised net administrative income of below 60% of the national median equivalised net income as derived from administrative data sources. In this release, the low-income threshold is deemed to be €16,271.
As a CSO Frontier Series release, 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. For further information on the data sources, linking procedures and limitations of this report, see the Background Notes.
Using Census 2022 and administrative data on income, the average household in Ireland contributed €17,558 in tax and social insurance contributions in 2022. Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi households contributed the highest amount per household at €26,066 on average.
In 2022, people identifying as White Irish Traveller were most likely (56.7%) to have an equivalised net administrative income below the low-income threshold of €16,271, while people who identified as White Irish were least likely (12.8%) to be below this threshold.
One in four (25.0%) people in County Donegal had an equivalised net administrative income below the low-income threshold, compared with one in nine (11.5%) people in County Kildare.
Over one in three (36.8%) people aged 50 to 64 years who rated their general health as very bad in Census 2022 were below the low-income threshold, compared with one in four (25.7%) of people aged 65 or older with very bad general health.
This release is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output, which means 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.
The Income Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (IAADS) presents income statistics compiled based on administrative sources and is an example of the policy relevant research projects the CSO is developing as part of its leadership role of the Irish Statistical System. The first release from this project, focusing on administrative household income, was published on 23 April 2025 as Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022 - Household Income.
The primary income data source is the Person Income Register (PIR). The PIR is an income register held internally within the CSO. It contains information on income received by individuals relating to employment, self-employment, and social transfers. It is derived from pseudonymised versions of administrative data held by the Revenue Commissioners and Department of Social Protection. This is linked to the CSO Census of Population Analysis (COPA) 2022 data to provide demographic breakdowns of household income in Ireland.
Users should note some of the limitations in the data sources. There are records on the COPA 2022 that could not be matched with administrative income, which may lead to biases particularly in border regions where there are a significant number of persons working in Northern Ireland. As such, care should be taken when interpreting results at some lower geographical levels.
Users should be aware that the Survey on Income and Living Conditions is the official measure of household income and risk of poverty in Ireland. The Income Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (IAADS) release presents estimates based solely on available administrative income data and uses a dwelling definition of household. As such, the two are not directly comparable. For further information see the Background Notes.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (14 October 2025) published Income Analysis using Administrative Data Sources 2022.
Commenting on today’s release, Eva O’Regan, Statistician in the Income, Consumption and Wealth (ICW) Division, said: “This release, published as a CSO Frontier Series Output, produces equivalised income statistics using administrative data. Equivalisation adjusts household income for differences in household size and composition, allowing for analysis at an individualised level. This release analysed data by geography, self-perceived general health, long-lasting condition or difficulty, carer’s supports status, and ethnicity.
The term low-income threshold refers to households with a net income of below €16,271, which is 60% of the national median equivalised net income as derived from 2022 administrative data sources. This will be referred to as an administrative income throughout the release. See the Background Notes for more information.
Equivalised Administrative Income by County
Regional household administrative income estimates from this data source were published by the CSO in April 2025 in the Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022 - Household Income release.
By county, 11.5% of people in County Kildare had an equivalised net administrative income below the low-income threshold, compared with 25.0% of people in County Donegal. While by Local Electoral Area (LEA), the proportion of people under this threshold was lowest in Rathfarnham-Templeogue in South Dublin (6.6%) and highest in Carndonagh in County Donegal (36.1%).
Equivalised Administrative Income by Health Status and Carer Status
Analysis by self-perceived general health shows that the poorer a person’s general health is rated, the more likely they are to be under the low-income threshold. Among adults who described their general health as very bad in Census 2022, the proportion living below the low-income threshold increased with age, from 26.4% of those in the 18-34 years age group to 36.8% in the 50-64 years age group. However, this trend does not continue beyond the 50-64 years age group. Notably, among adults in very bad general health, the lowest proportion under the low-income threshold was observed in the cohort aged 65 and over, at 25.7%. For further details, see Chapter 3 Health and Carers.
In 2022, people aged 18 and over who were in receipt of Department of Social Protection carer’s supports had a lower rate of being under the low-income threshold than those not in receipt of such supports, 13.2% compared with 14.3%. However, this varied by age.
Among people aged 65 and over, 7.7% of those receiving carer’s supports were below the low-income threshold, compared to 16.6% of those not receiving such supports.
Restricting the analysis to those of working-age, 14.9% of people in receipt of carer’s supports were under the low-income threshold, compared with 13.4% of those who were not in receipt of such supports.
Administrative Household Income by Ethnicity
Using the Census 2022 classifications on ethnicity, households where the head of household had an ethnic group/background of Asian or Asian Irish - Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi had the highest median gross household administrative income at €88,069. The largest population group, White Irish households, had a median gross household administrative income of €60,594. The lowest was for households identifying as White Irish Traveller where the median gross household administrative income was €37,109.
The average proportion of mean gross income coming from market income sources, such as employment and private pension income, was 85.0%. This proportion was highest for households where the head of household identified Asian or Asian Irish, specifically: Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi (93.9%), Chinese (91.8%), and any other Asian background (91.4%).
Households where the head of household identified as White Irish Traveller were most reliant on social transfers with 80.3% of gross household administrative income coming from social transfers.
The average household in Ireland contributed 22.4% (€17,558) of gross household administrative income in tax and social insurance contributions in 2022. Households where the head of household identified as Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi contributed the highest proportion of gross income in tax and social insurance contributions at 25.7% (€26,066), followed by Arab at 24.1% (€19,271), and Chinese at 22.8% (16,374).
Equivalised Administrative Income by Ethnicity
Equivalised income allows for a more meaningful comparison of income across households by accounting for the number of adults and children living in the household, thus allowing for analysis at an individualised level. However, when analysing by individual characteristics, it should be noted that equivalised income is influenced by the income of all household members. See Background Notes for details on equivalisation methods.
Taking 60% of the national median equivalised net administrative income as a low administrative income threshold (€16,271), we can look at the proportion of people with an equivalised net administrative income below this low-income threshold by various characteristics.
By ethnicity, people identifying as White Irish were least likely to be under the low-income threshold (12.8%) in 2022. This was followed by those who identified as Asian or Asian Irish - Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi (12.9%), and Asian or Asian Irish - any other Asian background (15.8%).
People identifying as White Irish Traveller were most likely to have an equivalised net administrative income below this low-income threshold (56.7%), followed by people with Arab ethnicity (36.6%), and Asian or Asian Irish – Chinese (33.9%).”