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.
The monthly employee index for males decreased by 0.3%, while the index for females increased by 0.2% in January 2026.
Taking age into account, the largest monthly increase was observed in the 65 years and over age group (+0.7%).
The largest monthly fall was in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (-1.9%), followed by Information & Communication (-0.6%).
The annual employee index rose by 1.9% to January 2026.
The Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data release is a very short time series (just over five years of monthly data) and is thus at the lower limit of acceptable length for the seasonal adjustment process. In the short term, care should be taken in interpreting the seasonally adjusted output. Users should be aware that there is increased uncertainty around the seasonally adjusted figures during the COVID-19 period due to the volatility of the data. Non-seasonally adjusted data are available on PxStat. The seasonal models were revised in September 2025. The models are being updated as part of the annual review process in accordance with the CSO and ESS (European Statistical System/Eurostat) guidelines.
The Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data is published as a 'Frontier' release, therefore the methodology and data are subject to revision. As more data become available, due to later transmissions from employers, the series may change from month to month. As this particularly affects the most recent months, figures should be considered provisional for the two most recent months for the non-seasonally adjusted data. Estimates for 2024 were revised in September 2025 as part of an annual review with the latest data available. All figures for monthly percentage change and annual percentage change are calculated prior to the input data being rounded.
This release will shortly begin using the new NACE Rev.2.1 classification. This updated EU-wide system of classification replaces NACE Rev.2 and will better reflect emerging economic activities and provide a more accurate picture of the Irish economy. Users will be advised when this new classification system will be applied to this release. For more information on the upcoming changes, visit our NACE - Classification of Economic Activities webpage.
| Number of Employees and Employee Index, Monthly and Annual Changes, Seasonally Adjusted | ||||
| Period | Number of Employees | Employee Index (Base year: 2019=100) | Monthly % Change | Annual % Change |
| January 2025 | 2,533,900 | 117.6 | 0.2 | 2.5 |
| December 2025 | 2,585,100 | 120.0 | 1.7 | 2.2 |
| January 2026 | 2,581,200 | 119.8 | -0.2 | 1.9 |
The annual index increased by 1.9% in January 2026 when compared with January 2025. March 2021 was the last month to show an annual decrease in the employee index (-11.1%).
On an annual basis, the index for both males and females increased by 2.0%. The monthly index increased by 0.2% for females and decreased by 0.3% for males in January 2026.
Two age categories, the 15-19 years (-0.4%) and 35-44 years (-0.1%), saw a decrease in the annual index. All other categories saw annual increases in the employee index, with the largest annual rise in employees in the 65 years and over age group (+7.0%).
The sectors showing the largest annual increase were Transportation & Storage (+7.0%), followed by Construction (+3.9%). The three sectors showing annual decreases were Services (-2.2%), Industry (-0.9%) and Information & Communication (-0.8%). It should be noted that Services (T,U) is the smallest sector, with 4,500 employees in January 2026.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (23 March 2026) published Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data, January 2026.
Commenting on the release, Kevin Healy, Statistician in the Labour Market & Earnings Division, said: “Six NACE sectors saw a monthly increase in the numbers employed in January 2026, while nine sectors showed a decrease. The largest monthly fall was in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (-1.9%). The largest monthly rise was in Services (+1.7%). It should be noted that Services was the smallest sector in January 2026, with 4,500 employees.
The 15-19 years age category saw the largest monthly drop in employees in January 2026 (-0.5%).
The annual index increased by 1.9% between January 2025 and January 2026.”
Data from this release supplements data published in the Labour Force Survey (LFS) quarterly series, which is the official measure of both employment and unemployment for the State. Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data are of relevance to LFS Seasonally Adjusted Estimates and Employment outputs.