Inequality is growing with highest disposable incomes in Dublin, Limerick, and Cork

Income gaps have widened between the most and least prosperous counties. 

Income inequality is growing between Ireland's wealthiest and poorest counties, data from the Central Statistics Office shows.

Dublin’s disposable income per person at €27,686 was 18% higher than the State average in 2020 — and an increase of 2.3% from 2019.

Limerick had the second highest disposable income in the country at €26,248 per person, followed by Cork at €23,856.

For the purpose of this study, the CSO defined disposable income as total income minus taxes and social insurance contributions. 

Income gaps have widened between the most and least prosperous counties. 

The gap between the lowest and highest county income per capita has widened considerably and is now at €9,364, a 10% change from a figure of €8,505 in 2019.

Donegal had the lowest disposable income per person in the State in 2020 at €18,322, 22% below the average.

Disposable income in the Midlands was 18.7% below the average, accounting for €5.8bn overall, making it the region with the lowest disposable income once again.

"Income inequality has grown from last year," Aoife Crowe, statistician in the National Accounts Analysis and Globalisation Division of the CSO, told the Irish Examiner.

"There is a year-on-year trend where Dublin does increase [in wealth]. The poorer regions, like the Midlands and border regions will stay quite constant year-on-year but you get these gaps with the South-West and Dublin.

The gap between the poorest and the wealthiest counties has grown over the last two years and it's something we could probably continue to expect.

While Dublin, Cork, and their surrounding counties, benefit economically from key economic sectors, such as the information and communications technology (ICT) sector in Dublin and the industry sector in Cork, the border and Midlands counties largely depend on the public sector for employment, Ms Crowe said.

More than a third (35%) of all employed persons in the State worked in Dublin in 2020.

Cork was the second highest employer with 12% of employed people working there.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Both counties are outliers with respect to the rest of the country, Ms Crowe noted.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Dublin and the South-West continued to rise compared with other regions.

The Dublin NUTS2 region, which takes in Dublin City, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin, recorded the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the State at €157.2bn.

The South-West region recorded the second highest GDP at €103.2bn in 2020.

The ICT sector was the largest contributor towards GDP in Dublin, while the manufacturing industry contributed most towards GDP in the South-West.

Overall, manufacturing was the most valuable industry in all regions in 2020, except for the border and Midlands areas where the public sector remained the strongest contributor to GDP.