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Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data September 2025

The Monthly Employee Index fell by 0.2% in the month to September 2025

Online ISSN: 2811-5791

CSO statistical release, 14 November 2025, 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.

Key Findings

The monthly employee index for males decreased by 0.2%, while the index for females fell by 0.1%.
Taking age into account, the largest monthly decrease was observed in the 15-19 years age category (-2.1%).
The largest monthly rise by economic sector was in Public Administration & Defence (+0.6%).
The seasonally adjusted annual employee index rose by 2.6% to September 2025.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (14 November 2025) published Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data, September 2025.

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 September 2025, while nine sectors showed a decrease. The sector that observed the largest monthly fall was Services (T, U) (-0.9%), followed by Construction (-0.7%). The largest monthly increase was in Public Administration & Defence (+0.6%). It should be noted that Services (T, U) was the smallest sector in September 2025, with 4,400 employees.

The 60-64 age category saw the largest monthly rise in employees in September 2025 (+0.5%).

The seasonally adjusted annual index increased by 2.6% between September 2024 and September 2025.”

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.

It is anticipated that an update including new weighting will be introduced in forthcoming months. This will result in a break in series.

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
September 2024	2,485,600	115.4	-0.7	1.9
August 2025	2,557,100	118.7	0.2	2.2
September 2025	2,550,700	118.4	-0.2	2.6

Open in Excel: Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data September 2025 Headline Table (XLS 10KB)

Employee Index Totals, Seasonally Adjusted

The seasonally adjusted index increased by 2.6% in September 2025 when compared with September 2024. 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 females increased by 2.7%, and for males was up by 2.5%. The monthly index decreased by 0.1% for females and it fell 0.2% for males in September 2025.

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
2023	September	1,233,300	0.5	2.5	1,207,700	0.6	3.1	2,440,400	0.6	2.7
	October	1,236,500	0.3	2.5	1,212,600	0.4	3.0	2,447,400	0.3	2.7
	November	1,237,900	0.1	2.3	1,213,900	0.1	2.2	2,450,700	0.1	2.2
	December	1,242,500	0.4	2.2	1,217,800	0.3	2.1	2,460,300	0.4	2.1

2024	January	1,245,000	0.2	2.3	1,222,500	0.4	2.5	2,468,000	0.3	2.4
	February	1,249,400	0.3	2.2	1,227,400	0.4	2.5	2,478,700	0.4	2.4
	March	1,251,500	0.2	2.1	1,233,900	0.5	2.6	2,486,900	0.3	2.3
	April	1,250,300	-0.1	2.0	1,229,700	-0.3	2.4	2,481,400	-0.2	2.2
	May	1,253,800	0.3	2.5	1,232,400	0.2	2.9	2,486,000	0.2	2.7
	June	1,254,100	0.0	2.4	1,235,100	0.2	2.9	2,489,800	0.2	2.7
	July	1,254,800	0.1	2.5	1,236,300	0.1	3.0	2,491,200	0.1	2.8
	August	1,260,700	0.5	2.8	1,241,200	0.4	3.4	2,502,800	0.5	3.2
	September	1,256,400	-0.3	1.9	1,229,500	-0.9	1.8	2,485,600	-0.7	1.9
	October	1,265,900	0.8	2.4	1,243,100	1.1	2.5	2,505,700	0.8	2.4
	November	1,273,000	0.6	2.8	1,247,300	0.3	2.7	2,517,600	0.5	2.7
	December	1,275,400	0.2	2.6	1,250,200	0.2	2.7	2,524,800	0.3	2.6

2025	January	1,279,300	0.3	2.8	1,252,800	0.2	2.5	2,532,400	0.3	2.6
	February	1,278,000	-0.1	2.3	1,252,500	0.0	2.0	2,531,900	0.0	2.1
	March	1,280,200	0.2	2.3	1,254,800	0.2	1.7	2,535,700	0.1	2.0
	April	1,284,300	0.3	2.7	1,257,600	0.2	2.3	2,542,900	0.3	2.5
	May	1,289,800	0.4	2.9	1,261,400	0.3	2.3	2,551,400	0.3	2.6
	June	1,286,600	-0.3	2.6	1,260,200	-0.1	2.0	2,548,100	-0.1	2.3
	July	1,288,700	0.2	2.7	1,262,900	0.2	2.1	2,552,900	0.2	2.5
	August	1,290,900	0.2	2.4	1,263,500	0.0	1.8	2,557,100	0.2	2.2
	September	1,287,900	-0.2	2.5	1,262,600	-0.1	2.7	2,550,700	-0.2	2.6
Source: PMOD Revenue Commissioner's Employee Tax Data

Open in Excel: Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees using Administrative Data September 2025 Table 2a (XLS 12KB)

Employee Index by Age Groups, Seasonally Adjusted

With the exception of the 15-19 years age category (-0.4%), all age groups saw annual increases in the employee index. The age groups with the largest annual rise in employees were the 65 years and over age group (+8.0%), followed by those aged 60-64 years (+5.3%).

Table 3 Employee Index by Age Group, Seasonally Adjusted

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

Employee Index by Economic Sector

All NACE sectors saw an annual increase in the employee index when compared with September 2024 with the exception of Services (T, U) (-1.4%). The three sectors showing the largest annual increases were Construction, Education and Financial, Insurance & Real Estate Activities (all at +4.7%).

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	September 2024	August 2025	September 2025	Monthly % Change	Annual % Change
15 - 19 years	127.2	129.4	126.7	-2.1	-0.4
20 - 24 years	115.2	120.1	119.0	-1.0	3.3
25 - 34 years	107.6	109.9	109.8	-0.1	2.0
35 - 44 years	107.0	107.5	107.5	-0.1	0.4
45 - 54 years	124.0	128.9	129.1	0.2	4.1
55 - 59 years	121.1	126.5	126.7	0.2	4.6
60 - 64 years	131.3	137.6	138.2	0.5	5.3
65 years and over	150.6	162.2	162.7	0.3	8.0
15 years and over	115.4	118.7	118.4	-0.2	2.6
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	September 2024	August 2025	September 2025	Monthly % Change	Annual % Change
15 - 19 years	114,500	116,500	114,100	-2.1	-0.4
20 - 24 years	257,900	269,000	266,400	-1.0	3.3
25 - 34 years	562,200	574,100	573,300	-0.1	2.0
35 - 44 years	620,600	623,700	623,200	-0.1	0.4
45 - 54 years	538,700	559,800	560,800	0.2	4.1
55 - 59 years	192,600	201,200	201,500	0.2	4.6
60 - 64 years	132,700	139,100	139,700	0.5	5.3
65 years and over	65,300	70,300	70,600	0.3	8.0
15 years and over	2,485,600	2,557,100	2,550,700	-0.2	2.6
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	September 2024	August 2025	September 2025	Monthly % Change	Annual % Change
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (A)	112.4	115.4	115.1	-0.3	2.4
Industry (B to E)	114.1	116.7	116.8	0.2	2.4
Construction (F)	126.3	133.1	132.2	-0.7	4.7
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G)	110.5	110.8	110.5	-0.3	0.0
Transportation and storage (H)	120.6	125.3	125.1	-0.2	3.8
Accommodation and food service activities (I)	111.2	111.6	111.2	-0.3	0.0
Information and communication (J)	118.6	122.6	122.8	0.2	3.6
Financial, insurance and real estate activities (K,L)	113.8	118.9	119.1	0.2	4.7
Professional, scientific and technical activities (M)	122.9	125.8	125.2	-0.4	1.9
Administrative and support service activities (N)	109.7	113.9	113.4	-0.4	3.4
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security (O)	118.8	121.2	122.0	0.6	2.7
Education (P)	117.1	122.2	122.6	0.3	4.7
Human health and social work activities (Q)	123.0	128.0	128.2	0.1	4.2
Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities (R,S)	102.6	104.5	104.4	-0.1	1.8
Services (T,U)	116.6	116.0	114.9	-0.9	-1.4
Not stated	..	..	..	..	..

Aggregated Sectors
Cultural and Creative Industries	104.2	109.7	109.5	-0.2	5.1
Tourism Industries	110.6	111.3	111.1	-0.1	0.5

All Economic Sectors	115.4	118.7	118.4	-0.2	2.6
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	September 2024	August 2025	September 2025	Monthly % Change	Annual % Change
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (A)	29,300	30,000	29,900	-0.3	2.4
Industry (B to E)	270,800	276,800	277,300	0.2	2.4
Construction (F)	144,300	152,200	151,000	-0.7	4.7
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G)	390,200	391,200	390,200	-0.3	0.0
Transportation and storage (H)	95,000	98,800	98,600	-0.2	3.8
Accommodation and food service activities (I)	205,000	205,600	204,900	-0.3	0.0
Information and communication (J)	120,300	124,300	124,600	0.2	3.6
Financial, insurance and real estate activities (K,L)	129,100	134,900	135,100	0.2	4.7
Professional, scientific and technical activities (M)	162,100	166,000	165,300	-0.4	1.9
Administrative and support service activities (N)	158,300	164,400	163,800	-0.4	3.4
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security (O)	210,800	215,100	216,500	0.6	2.7
Education (P)	174,700	182,400	183,000	0.3	4.7
Human health and social work activities (Q)	296,400	308,500	308,900	0.1	4.2
Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities (R,S)	99,500	101,300	101,200	-0.1	1.8
Services (T,U)	4,500	4,400	4,400	-0.9	-1.4
Not stated¹	200	100	200	..	..

Aggregated Sectors
Cultural and Creative Industries	36,700	38,700	38,600	-0.2	5.1
Tourism Industries	220,400	221,800	221,500	-0.1	0.5

All Economic Sectors	2,485,600	2,557,100	2,550,700	-0.2	2.6
.. 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 September 2025