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Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data March 2026

The Monthly Employee Index fell by 0.1% in the month to March 2026

Online ISSN: 2811-5791

CSO statistical release, 15 May 2026, 11am

A CSO Frontier Series Output

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.

Advisory Note

November 2025 data has been updated to correct a processing error; these revisions are reflected in this release.

Key Findings

The monthly employee index for males decreased by 0.2%, while the index for females rose by 0.1% in March 2026.
Taking age into account, the largest monthly increases were observed in the 55-59 years and 60-64 age groups (+0.1%).
The largest monthly fall was in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (-0.9%), followed by Accommodation & Food Service Activities (-0.6%).
The annual employee index rose by 2.2% to March 2026.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (15 May 2026) published Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data, March 2026.

Commenting on the release, Kevin Healy, Statistician in the Labour Market & Earnings Division, said: “In March 2026, four NACE sectors saw a monthly increase in the numbers employed, nine sectors showed a decrease, while two sectors remained unchanged. The largest monthly fall was in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (-0.9%). The largest monthly rise was in Education (+0.4%).

The 20-24 years age category saw the largest monthly drop in employees in March 2026 (-0.4%).

The annual index rose by 2.2% between March 2025 and March 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.

Seasonal Adjustment

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.

Revisions and Rounding

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.

Key Figures

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
March 2025	2,536,800	117.8	0.2	2.1
February 2026	2,596,300	120.5	0.2	2.6
March 2026	2,593,200	120.4	-0.1	2.2

Open in Excel: Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data March 2026 Headline Table (XLS 10KB)

Employee Index Totals, Seasonally Adjusted

The annual index increased by 2.2% in March 2026 when compared with March 2025. March 2021 was the last month to show an annual decrease in the employee index (-11.1%).

Table 1 Employee Index and Total Number of Employees, Seasonally Adjusted

Employee Index by Sex, Seasonally Adjusted

On an annual basis, the index for males increased by 2.3% and females increased by 2.2%. The monthly index increased by 0.1% for females and decreased by 0.2% for males in March 2026.

Table 2 Employee Index by Sex, Seasonally Adjusted

Table 2a Number of Employees by Sex, Seasonally Adjusted

Table 2a Number of Employees by Sex, Seasonally Adjusted
		Male			Female			Both Sexes
Year	Month	Number of Employees	Monthly % Change	Annual % Change	Number of Employees	Monthly % Change	Annual % Change	Number of Employees	Monthly % Change	Annual % Change
2024	March	1,251,100	0.2	2.1	1,233,800	0.5	2.6	2,484,200	0.2	2.2
	April	1,252,300	0.1	2.2	1,230,000	-0.3	2.4	2,485,800	0.1	2.3
	May	1,253,500	0.1	2.3	1,233,200	0.3	2.9	2,487,900	0.1	2.7
	June	1,255,500	0.2	2.5	1,236,200	0.2	3.0	2,488,200	0.0	2.7
	July	1,256,900	0.1	2.6	1,237,800	0.1	3.1	2,490,600	0.1	2.8
	August	1,259,700	0.2	2.6	1,242,700	0.4	3.4	2,497,400	0.3	3.0
	September	1,256,500	-0.3	2.0	1,231,100	-0.9	1.9	2,490,000	-0.3	2.3
	October	1,264,100	0.6	2.3	1,238,100	0.6	2.3	2,501,400	0.5	2.2
	November	1,271,800	0.6	2.8	1,246,200	0.7	2.7	2,514,100	0.5	2.5
	December	1,276,700	0.4	2.8	1,250,300	0.3	2.7	2,531,400	0.7	2.9

2025	January	1,276,300	0.0	2.5	1,251,700	0.1	2.4	2,531,600	0.0	2.5
	February	1,277,400	0.1	2.3	1,251,900	0.0	2.0	2,531,000	0.0	2.1
	March	1,281,600	0.3	2.4	1,255,000	0.2	1.7	2,536,800	0.2	2.1
	April	1,286,200	0.4	2.7	1,258,400	0.3	2.3	2,547,000	0.4	2.5
	May	1,289,600	0.3	2.9	1,262,400	0.3	2.4	2,550,500	0.1	2.5
	June	1,289,200	0.0	2.7	1,261,800	-0.1	2.1	2,551,000	0.0	2.5
	July	1,289,400	0.0	2.6	1,265,100	0.3	2.2	2,550,400	0.0	2.4
	August	1,294,300	0.4	2.7	1,268,000	0.2	2.0	2,560,900	0.4	2.5
	September	1,297,000	0.2	3.2	1,270,300	0.2	3.2	2,565,600	0.2	3.0
	October	1,302,400	0.4	3.0	1,274,700	0.3	3.0	2,577,900	0.5	3.1
	November	1,304,200	0.1	2.5	1,276,800	0.2	2.5	2,581,000	0.1	2.7
	December	1,307,800	0.3	2.4	1,277,800	0.1	2.2	2,587,700	0.3	2.2

2026	January	1,309,900	0.2	2.6	1,281,000	0.3	2.3	2,590,600	0.1	2.3
	February	1,312,700	0.2	2.8	1,282,600	0.1	2.4	2,596,300	0.2	2.6
	March	1,310,500	-0.2	2.3	1,283,300	0.1	2.2	2,593,200	-0.1	2.2
Source: PMOD Revenue Commissioner's Employee Tax Data

Open in Excel: Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data March 2026 Table 2a (XLS 13KB)

Employee Index by Age Groups, Seasonally Adjusted

One age category, the 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 (+7.4%).

Table 3 Employee Index by Age Group, Seasonally Adjusted

Table 3a Number of Employees by Age Group, Seasonally Adjusted

Employee Index by Economic Sector

The sectors showing the largest annual increase were Transportation & Storage (+6.6%), followed by Construction (+4.6%). The two sectors showing annual decreases were Industry (-0.7%) and Information & Communication (-0.5%).

Table 4 Employee Index classified by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector, Seasonally Adjusted

Table 4a Number of Employees classified by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector, Seasonally Adjusted

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Table 3 Employee Index by Age Group, Seasonally Adjusted
	Employee Index (Base Year 2019=100)			Monthly % Change	Annual % Change
Age Group	March 2025	February 2026	March 2026	Monthly % Change	Annual % Change
15 - 19 years	130.9	133.3	133.0	-0.2	1.7
20 - 24 years	119.1	122.7	122.2	-0.4	2.6
25 - 34 years	109.5	111.5	111.3	-0.2	1.7
35 - 44 years	108.0	108.2	107.9	-0.3	-0.1
45 - 54 years	127.4	131.7	131.6	-0.1	3.3
55 - 59 years	124.2	129.5	129.6	0.1	4.3
60 - 64 years	135.7	141.0	141.1	0.1	4.0
65 years and over	157.5	169.0	169.0	0.0	7.4
15 years and over	117.8	120.5	120.4	-0.1	2.2
Source: PMOD Revenue Commissioner's Employee Tax Data

Table 3a Number of Employees by Age Group, Seasonally Adjusted
	Number of Employees			Monthly % Change	Annual % Change
Age Group	March 2025	February 2026	March 2026	Monthly % Change	Annual % Change
15 - 19 years	117,800	119,900	119,700	-0.2	1.7
20 - 24 years	266,600	274,700	273,600	-0.4	2.6
25 - 34 years	571,700	582,300	581,200	-0.2	1.7
35 - 44 years	626,500	627,400	625,600	-0.3	-0.1
45 - 54 years	553,400	571,900	571,500	-0.1	3.3
55 - 59 years	197,600	205,900	206,200	0.1	4.3
60 - 64 years	137,100	142,500	142,600	0.1	4.0
65 years and over	68,300	73,300	73,300	0.0	7.4
15 years and over	2,536,800	2,596,300	2,593,200	-0.1	2.2
Source: PMOD Revenue Commissioner's Employee Tax Data

Table 4 Employee Index classified by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector, Seasonally Adjusted
	Employee Index (Base Year 2019=100)			Monthly % Change	Annual % Change
Sector	March 2025	February 2026	March 2026	Monthly % Change	Annual % Change
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (A)	115.9	117.6	116.6	-0.9	0.6
Industry (B to E)	116.9	116.2	116.2	-0.1	-0.7
Construction (F)	130.3	136.3	136.3	0.0	4.6
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G)	110.6	111.9	111.6	-0.3	0.9
Transportation and storage (H)	120.6	129.1	128.6	-0.4	6.6
Accommodation and food service activities (I)	111.8	115.1	114.4	-0.6	2.3
Information and communication (J)	121.5	121.2	120.9	-0.3	-0.5
Financial, insurance and real estate activities (K,L)	117.5	121.7	121.6	-0.1	3.5
Professional, scientific and technical activities (M)	125.6	128.0	127.8	-0.2	1.7
Administrative and support service activities (N)	112.3	114.0	114.1	0.1	1.6
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security (O)	120.0	124.4	124.2	-0.2	3.5
Education (P)	120.3	123.4	123.9	0.4	3.0
Human health and social work activities (Q)	126.2	131.0	131.3	0.2	4.0
Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities (R,S)	103.8	106.4	106.8	0.3	2.8
Services (T,U)	117.5	118.6	118.6	0.0	0.9
Not stated	..	..	..	..	..

Aggregated Sectors
Cultural and Creative Industries	107.0	109.9	109.7	-0.1	2.6
Tourism Industries	110.7	115.0	114.6	-0.3	3.5

All Economic Sectors	117.8	120.5	120.4	-0.1	2.2
Source: PMOD Revenue Commissioner's Employee Tax Data
.. Not applicable

Table 4a Number of Employees classified by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector, Seasonally Adjusted
	Number of Employees			Monthly % Change	Annual % Change
Sector	March 2025	February 2026	March 2026	Monthly % Change	Annual % Change
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (A)	30,100	30,600	30,300	-0.9	0.6
Industry (B to E)	277,500	275,800	275,700	-0.1	-0.7
Construction (F)	148,900	155,700	155,700	0.0	4.6
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G)	390,500	395,300	394,100	-0.3	0.9
Transportation and storage (H)	95,000	101,700	101,300	-0.4	6.6
Accommodation and food service activities (I)	206,000	212,100	210,800	-0.6	2.3
Information and communication (J)	123,200	122,900	122,600	-0.3	-0.5
Financial, insurance and real estate activities (K,L)	133,200	138,000	137,900	-0.1	3.5
Professional, scientific and technical activities (M)	165,700	169,000	168,600	-0.2	1.7
Administrative and support service activities (N)	162,200	164,600	164,700	0.1	1.6
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security (O)	212,900	220,800	220,400	-0.2	3.5
Education (P)	179,600	184,200	185,000	0.4	3.0
Human health and social work activities (Q)	304,200	315,800	316,500	0.2	4.0
Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities (R,S)	100,700	103,200	103,500	0.3	2.8
Services (T,U)	4,500	4,500	4,500	0.0	0.9
Not stated¹	100	0	300	..	..

Aggregated Sectors
Cultural and Creative Industries	37,700	38,700	38,700	-0.1	2.6
Tourism Industries	220,600	229,100	228,400	-0.3	3.5

All Economic Sectors	2,536,800	2,596,300	2,593,200	-0.1	2.2
.. Not applicable
¹ May be subject to revision due to a lag in coding of activity in Revenue's PMOD file

Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data March 2026