Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources 2023

Composition of Employments by Nationality

As of 2023, Irish nationals accounted for the largest proportion of employments (73.8%), followed by those from the EU excluding Ireland (12.2%) and Other (8.6%), which includes nationalities not listed and employments for which a nationality could not be determined. Irish nationals contributed more than three-quarters (76.6%) of the total earnings in 2023, down 1.8 percentage points on 2022. The nationality categories included in the following analysis contributed at least 1.0% to the total earnings across three consecutive years, between 2021 and 2023 (See Table 5.1).

Over the five-year period between 2018 and 2023, the number of employments occupied by Irish nationals increased by 6.3%. There were also increases in the number of employments among the following nationalities: UK (7.5%), Romanian (26.1%), and Indian (264.2%). During the same period, there was a decrease in the number of employments held by Polish nationals (-8.2%).

In 2023, the largest proportion of employments occupied by Irish workers was in Wholesale & Retail Trade (15.8%), followed by Human Health & Social Work (14.8%), and Industry (10.9%). Similarly, the largest proportion of employments recorded for nationals from the UK (15.7%), EU excluding Ireland (17.5%), and Poland (21.7%), were also in the Wholesale & Retail Trade sector, while the largest proportion of Indian nationals were employed in the Human Health & Social Work sector (31.4%) (See Table 5.2).

Irish workers accounted for the majority of employments in each of the economic sectors, ranging from 56.1% in Accommodation & Food to 94.7% in Public Administration & Defence. Nationals from the EU excluding Ireland represented the second largest proportion of employments across 11 of the 13 economic sectors, with the exception of Accommodation & Food and Human Health & Social Work (See Table 5.3).

Median Weekly Earnings by Nationality and Sex

Median weekly earnings were highest among Indian nationals in 2023, at €883.74, followed by UK nationals at €745.71. Despite recording the highest median weekly earnings, Indian nationals saw the smallest annual percentage increase in weekly earnings between 2022 and 2023, at 1.2%, in contrast to the increase of 5.7% in weekly earnings recorded among Polish nationals since 2022.

In 2023, the highest median weekly earnings among males were recorded for UK nationals at €859.73, followed by Indian nationals at €849.68. Among females, Indian nationals had the highest median weekly earnings, recorded at €908.44 in 2023, followed by Irish nationals at €645.49.

In general, median weekly earnings among males were higher than those of females. The opposite was true among Indian nationals, amongst whom females had median weekly earnings 6.9% higher than their male counterparts (See Figure 5.1 and Table 5.5).

Median Weekly Earnings by Nationality and Economic Sector

Indian nationals earned the highest median weekly earnings in five of the 13 economic sectors in 2023, while the highest median weekly earnings were recorded among Irish nationals in a further three economic sectors.

Median weekly earnings were highest in the Information & Communication sector among all nationalities included in this analysis, ranging from €1,122.56 among Polish nationals to €1,466.16 among UK nationals. Among Irish, Indian, and UK nationals the lowest median weekly earnings were recorded for employments in the Accommodation & Food sector, while the Arts, Entertainment, Recreation & Other Services sector had the lowest weekly earnings among Romanian, Polish and EU nationals.

Variation in median weekly earnings between nationality groups was least in the Transportation & Storage sector, ranging from €640.61 among employments in the Other category to €743.02 among Irish nationals. In contrast, in the Financial, Insurance & Real Estate sector, UK nationals (€1,192.56) earned 84.0% more per week than Romanian nationals (€648.11).