AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS increased 5.6% year-on-year in the final quarter of 2024, according to a report released today by the Central Statistics Office. 

The average weekly earnings were  €979.71 in the last three months of 2024, while during the same period in 2023 the average weekly earnings were €927.98.

The average weekly earnings rose across all 13 sectors. The largest annual percentage increase in average weekly earnings in this period was 6.6 per cent in the Information & Communication sector, with the second largest increase of 6.5 per cent seen in the Education sector.

The lowest earning sector was accommodation and food, with an average hourly income of €16.80. Based on a forty-hour work week the average weekly earnings would be €672. The highest earning sector was information and communication earning €45.52 per hour, closely followed by education, earning €43.49 per hour. 

“Average earnings in the economy continue to increase year on year, driven by a number of factors, including a stable job vacancy rate for the past 18 months as well as annual employment growth of 2.6 per cent according to the latest CSO Labour Force Survey,” said Louise Egan, Statistician in the Earnings Analysis Division.

There were roughly 25,400 job vacancies, at the end of quarter four 2024, down 700 from the end of quarter four 2023.

“This is an indication that it is a strong labour market, that unemployment is low and earnings are increasing,” said Frank Walsh, Economics Professor at University College Dublin.