
News


Share
Published 21:10 11 Jun 2019 BST
Explore more on these topics:
This increase was driven by a rise in the average numbers employed of 4.0%, a 2.8% increase in average hourly earnings and a 0.4% increase in average weekly hours worked.
The average annual hourly earnings of all employees were €23.07 in 2018, an annual increase of 2.8%, while average annual weekly paid hours were 32.4, an increase of 0.4% in the year.
Full-time employees averaged an hourly rate of €24.76 while part-time employees averaged an hourly rate of €16.18.
The national minimum wage in Ireland currently sits at €9.80 per hour.
In terms of hourly earnings, the Education sector tops the list.
The total cost of employing labour increased by 7.1% in 2018 with total annual labour costs reaching €82.7 billion.
In terms of specific industries, the Industry sector had the highest total annual labour costs of €12.7 billion in 2018. This was followed by the Wholesale and retail trade sector at €10.6 billion.
The Administrative and support services sector and the Arts, entertainment, recreation and other services activities sector had the lowest total annual labour costs of €3.5 billion and €1.6 billion respectively.
The CSO recorded a rise in annual total earnings in all 13 economic sectors.
Full-time employee regular earnings comprised €56.4 billion (68.2%) of the €82.7 billion total labour costs, while part-time employee regular earnings were €8.6 billion (10.4%).
Here's the average annual earnings by economic sector.
If you're curious about the amount of people working in your chosen profession, here are the figures for annual employment by economic sector.

Her Money Diaries: A 43-year-old Garda on €80,000 a year
“Childcare is hard on the pocket” Welcome back to Her Money Diaries, our new financial series that discusses the money woes and wins of women in Ireland. In this week’s Money Diary, we’re taking a look at 43-year-old Aoife from rural Ireland, whose biggest money worry is the price of childcare in Ireland. Aoife works […]
News
1 week ago
A week of horror – How Ireland ranks in Europe for femicide
In Europe, Ireland ranks 17th out of 24 countries for femicide. The number of women have been killed in Ireland so far this year is more than the entirety of 2025. Jamey Casey, killed in Killarney this week marked the eighth woman to die in violent circumstances. In 2025, seven women died violently in the […]
News
3 weeks ago

News
News