ONE QUARTER OF Irish workers earned less than €450 per week in 2023.

The new figures by the Central Statistic Office (CSO) also show that 12.8% of workers had weekly earnings of €1,500 or more.

The disparity between the highest and lowest earners has increased over the last few years. The gap in weekly earnings between the bottom 10% of earners and those in the top 10% has widened from around €1,100 in 2016, to €1,400 in 2023.

Looking at age groups, the lowest increase in median weekly earnings was recorded among the 25-29 years age group, going from €644.04 in 2022 to €663.13 in 2023.

The proportion of workers in this age group has been reducing steadily since 2011, going from 14.8% in 2011 to 11.1% in 2023.

Sector breakdown

Almost two-thirds (63.2%) of people in the Accommodation & Food Services sector had weekly earnings of less than €450, while more than half (53.2%) of people in the Arts, Entertainment, Recreation & Other Services sector had similar weekly earnings.

In contrast, only 5.9% of people working in the Information & Communication sector had earnings of less than €450 per week. Meanwhile, 17% of workers in this sector had weekly earnings of €2,550 or more.

The overall average increase in earnings among all sectors in 2023 was 4.2%.

Five of the thirteen economic sectors defined by the CSO recorded growth less than this.  These included Transport & Storage (2.7%), Education (3.0%), Public Administration & Defence (3.6%), Financial, Insurance & Real Estate Activities (3.7%), and Construction (3.8%).

In contrast, people working in the Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities sector and the Information & Communication sector had median weekly earnings increase by 6.7% and 6.6% respectively.