This publication is part of a series of results from Census 2022. More thematic publications will be published throughout 2023 as outlined in the Census 2022 Publication Schedule.
The Principal Economic Status question in the census measures whether people are at work, unemployed or outside the labour force. The number of people who recorded their economic status as ‘working for payment or profit’ in April 2022 was 2.3 million, a rise of 16% since 2016. This compares to an increase of 11% between 2011 and 2016.
The number of unemployed people who had lost or given up their previous job was 176,276, 34% lower than in 2016.
There was a 10% increase to 34,526 in the number of people seeking their first job. This follows a decrease of 8% between 2011 and 2016.
The number of people looking after the family or home continued to decline, with a fall of 11% since 2016, to 272,318, and has more than halved since 1986 when it stood at 653,843.
The amount of full-time students aged 15 years and over increased by 8% over the six years to 459,275.
Reflecting the ageing population, the number of retirees continued to rise, with an increase of 21% to 657,790.
There was an increase of 20% in the number of people unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability, rising to 189,308.
In 2022, 61% of males aged 15 years and over were in employment. In comparison, only 51% of females aged 15 years and over were employed. The next largest category was retirees accounting for 16% of males and females.
The number of males in employment was 1.2 million, an increase of 15% between 2016 and 2022 and the number of females was 1.1 million, 16% higher than in 2016.
The proportion of females in employment increased from 28% to 51% between 1986 and 2022, whereas for males, the proportion in employment in 1986 was 60% compared with 61% in 2022.
Between 2016 and 2022, there was a large fall in the number of unemployed males and females who had lost or given up their previous job, 37% for males and 30% for females.
The number of people seeking a job for the first time saw a similar increase among males and females, with an increase of 10% and 9% respectively.
Between 2016 and 2022, the number of retired females increased by 27% to over 342,000. The number of retired males also increased but at a slower rate of 15% to nearly 316,000.
Census 2022 marked the first time that there were more female retirees than male.
In 1986, 51% of females recorded their principal economic status as ‘looking after the home/family’. In 2022, this proportion was 12%.
Of all people who recorded their economic status as ‘looking after the home/family’ in 2022, 90% were female.
The number of females who could not work due to ill health increased by 22% since 2016 to just over 97,200 while the number of males saw an increase of 17% to just over 92,000.
The proportion of both males and females unable to work due to ill health was 5%.
The same proportion (11%) of males and females were full-time students in 2022.
The age ranges among which the largest proportion of people were in work varied by sex.
For males, it was between 35 and 44 years, with 87% of those in this age group at work.
For females, the peak age range of employment was slightly younger, between 25 and 34, with 76% of females in this cohort at work.
The number seeking a first job was highest for males between the ages of 20 and 24 years (5,186 people) and for females between 25 and 34 years (4,118 people).
The largest numbers unemployed after having lost or given up a previous job were in the age group 35 to 44 years for both males and females.
Nearly 90% of females who were looking after the home or family were aged 35 or over.
Over 65,000 people aged between 55 and 64 years reported that they were unable to work due to sickness or disability - the largest number among any group.
The labour force is made up of people who are at work, unemployed or looking for their first job. All other categories of economic status (i.e. students, people looking after home/family, retired people and those unable to work due to sickness or disability) are not considered part of the labour force for census purposes.
The number of people in the labour force in April 2022 was 2.5 million, an increase of 10% since 2016.
The labour force participation rate fell slightly from 61.4% in 2016 to 61.2% in 2022, having peaked at 62.5% in 2006. The decline has mainly been due to the increase in the number of retired people from 377,927 in 2006 to 657,790 in 2022.
The participation rate for males declined steadily from a high of 74% in 1986 to 67% in 2022.
For females, the labour force participation rate increased from 32% in 1986 to 53% in 2006. From then onwards, the rate of growth slowed and in 2022, the participation rate stood at 56%.
The age range at which the largest number of people were in the labour force varied by sex.
For males, it was in the 35 to 44 years age group, with a participation rate of 93%.
For females, the peak age was slightly younger, between 25 and 34 years, with a participation rate of 83%.
Based on a person's current or former occupation, the population can be classified into seven social class groups.
In 2022, the labour force participation rate was highest for Professional workers at 70%.
The participation rate among Unskilled workers was 61%.
The county with the highest labour force participation rate was Fingal at 66%, followed by Dublin City at 65%.
The counties with the lowest rates were Donegal and Mayo, both at 57%.
For males, the highest participation rate was in Fingal, Meath and Dublin City (71%) and the lowest was in Donegal and Mayo (63%).
For females, the highest participation rate was in Dublin City at 61%, followed by Fingal at 60%.
In Roscommon, Donegal, Offaly and Mayo, the participation rate was just over half for females (52%).
Among towns with at least 1,500 people, Kinsealy-Drinan in Fingal had the highest labour force participation rate (77%).
The 10 towns with the highest participation rates of 70% and over were also the towns with the highest proportion of people at work.
The town with the lowest labour force participation rate was Boyle in Roscommon (49%).
In each of the 10 towns with the lowest participation rates, the proportion of retired persons was higher than the national average (16%); Rosslare in County Wexford had the highest proportion of retired persons at 28%.
Ballaghaderreen in Roscommon had the highest proportion of people looking after the home or family at 11%.
Kilrush in County Clare had the highest proportion of people unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability at 12%.
In the year prior to April 2022, 77,307 people aged 15 years and over came to live in the State. Of these, one-quarter were Irish citizens (18,961) and nearly three-quarters were non-Irish citizens (57,193).
The labour force participation rate was 73% among immigrants who were Irish citizens and 66% among non-Irish citizens.
Students were the main reason for this difference, accounting for 10% of immigrants who were Irish citizens and for 24% of non-Irish immigrants.
Recent Chinese migrants had the lowest labour force participation rate at 20%; the proportion of students among Chinese migrants was 72%.
Recent migrants from the UK had the highest proportion of retirees at 15%.
Recent migrants from Croatia were the most likely to be employed, with 89% in work.
There were 420,465 non-Irish citizens aged 15 years and over in the labour force in April 2022, an increase of 21% since 2016.
The labour force participation rate among non-Irish citizens (75%) was higher than for Irish citizens (59%).
The highest participation rates were recorded among Croatian, Italian and Spanish citizens at 85% or higher.
American citizens had the lowest labour force participation rate (58%) due to a high proportion of students (19%) and retirees (11%).
Among non-Irish citizens, the next lowest participation rate was UK citizens (61%), mainly due to a high proportion of retirees (22%).
Chinese citizens also had one of the lowest labour force participation rates at 65% which was mainly attributable to the high proportion of students (22%).
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