Cork workers have less disposable income than national average

Workers in Cork have less disposable income per capita than the national average including their counterparts living in Dublin and Limerick.

Wed, 03 Apr, 2019 - 17:05

Kevin O’Neill

Workers in Cork have less disposable income per capita than the national average including their counterparts living in Dublin and Limerick.

Data compiled by the Central Statistics Office examines income up to 2016 and finds that workers from Cork have more disposable income than they did in 2015 but have yet to reach the heights of 2008 - though the trends are moving in the right direction.

From 2015 to 2016, average disposable income increased in all regions, according to the CSO report. The state average, per capita, went from €20,064 in 2015 to €20,638 in 2016.

The Dublin region - city and county - had the highest average disposable income per person in 2016. At €24,431, it was 18.4% higher than the State figure of €20,638 and 4.2% higher than the €23,449 average that people in Dublin had in 2015.

Of the remainder of the country, only the mid-west (€20,306 - 3.6% increase on 2015) and the mid-east (€19,911 - 0.6% increase on 2015) had an average disposable income per person close to the state average of €20,638.

The border region was the lowest, with an average of €17,370, approximately 15.8% below the State average. In 2015, the border region had been 16.1% below the state average so the gap was narrowing, slightly.

The midland region was second lowest, with an average disposable income of €17,717.

At county level, Dublin, Limerick, Kildare and Wicklow are the only counties where per capita disposable income exceeded the state average in 2016. Cork, Carlow and Waterford are just below this threshold.

In Cork, disposable income was €20,125, the highest it had been since 2009 when people had an average disposable income of €21,637. It is not yet at the highs of 2008, when people had €23,207.

Limerick, at €21,979, was at its highest level since 2008 when people averaged €22,300. In Waterford, people averaged €20,101, more than Tipperary (€19,880), Kerry (€18,567) and Clare (€18,145).

The report also includes estimates for disposable income for 2017. The State average is due to increase to €21,397. Dublin residents exceed this by 22% with an average disposable income of €26,122.

In comparison, those in Cork are still below the national average - €20,761, roughly 3% less. Limerick (€22,515) and Kildare (€21,850) are the only counties estimated to have also exceeded the national average in 2017.

Average disposable income by county in 2016

Carlow: €19,943

Cavan: €18,102

Clare: €18,145

Cork: €20,125

Donegal: €15,892

Dublin: €24,431

Galway: €19,046

Kerry: €18,567

Kildare: €20,860

Kilkenny: €18,928

Laois: €17,684