Average median wage rose by 4.2% last year

The sector with the lowest average median weekly earnings was the accommodation and food sector at €364.31.

The median average weekly wage rose by 4.2% during 2023 to nearly €700 but this failed to keep pace with inflation throughout the year which ran at over 6%, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.

Since the beginning of this year, annual inflation in Ireland has fallen 2.2%. As a result,  institutions such as the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Central Bank of Ireland have said that real wages will continue to grow throughout the year.  

According to the CSO data, during 2023 more than one-fifth of employees in Ireland earned less than €400 a week whereas employees earning between €400 and €800 per week accounted for 36.4%. Just over 30% are earning between €800 and €1,600 while a further 11.0% of people are earning €1,600 or more per week.

Overall, the median average annual earnings rose from €41,823 in 2022 to €43,221 last year.

The data shows that the economic area with the highest weekly earnings was the information and communication sector — which encompasses the tech sector — which stood at €1,356.59. This was followed by the financial, insurance, and real estate sector at €977.34.

The lowest median weekly earnings were recorded in the accommodation and food sector at €364.31. The next lowest was the arts, entertainment, recreation, and other services at €426.66.

The median weekly earnings by men during 2023 was nearly 24% higher than women - €770.52 compared with €623.22.

In terms of earnings per county, Dublin recorded the highest median weekly wage at €793.781 — 13.5% higher than the State average at €699.28. Donegal recorded the lowest at €567.04.

The data also showed that Indian nationals were the only nationality working in Ireland where the median weekly earnings were higher among women, €904.44, then men at €849.68. Indian nationals had the highest median weekly earnings last year at €883.74 accounting for 2.6% of total employments.

UK nationals had the second highest earnings at €745.71 followed byIrish nationals at €728.03.

However, UK nationals had the largest earnings gap between men and women at 859.73 compared to €613.78. For Irish nationals, men earned €811.71 compared to women who earned €645.59.

Irish people accounted for 73.8% of all those employed across the country with 12.2% coming from the rest of the EU. The largest proportion of employments occupied by Irish workers was in the wholesale and retail trade sector at 15.8%.