Average Irish worker took home almost €760 a week last year, says CSO

The average Irish take-home pay was €757.21 a week last year.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that Irish workers earned an average of almost €40,000 in 2018. Those in the information and communications sectors were the biggest earners, taking home an average of €1,168.50 a week. On the other end of the scale, accommodation and food service activities workers made just €354.96 a week in take-home pay. There were 1,838,100 people in full-time employment in Ireland in the second quarter of 2019, while 462,000 were working part time. The unemployment rate now stands at 5.4 per cent, down from 14.7 in 2013. The CSO's Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2019 shows that 18.8 per cent of the population are experiencing enforced deprivation. This means that almost one in five people living Ireland have had to go without two or more basic needs, such as heating, a warm water-proof coat or a meal with meat, chicken or fish every second day. House building is on the up in the country, with 18,016 new homes built nationwide in 2018. This marks a year-on-year increase of 25.3 per cent. There were 6,907 new builds in Dublin, while over 1,200 new homes were completed in Cork, Meath and Kildare each. Meanwhile, Irish people are continuing to get married later and have fewer children. The average age of a bride in Ireland is now 34.4, while for grooms it's 36.4. There were 61,016 babies born here in 2018, compared with 68,954 in 2013.