Back to Top

 Skip navigation

Earnings and Labour Costs Q3 2023 (Final) Q4 2023 (Preliminary Estimates)

Average weekly earnings up 2.1% in the 12 months to Q4 2023

Online ISSN: 2009-5023
CSO statistical publication, , 11am

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the official source of employment estimates. Earnings and Labour Costs sectoral estimates are adjusted to reflect the trends of the LFS sectoral employment. The LFS employment estimates have been updated in Quarter 4 (Q4) 2023 to account for 2022 Census of Population estimates. It is intended that the Earnings and Labour Costs estimates will be updated to reflect the updated population estimates in the Q1 2024 release, due for publication on the 29 May 2024.

Key Findings

  • Average weekly earnings were €921.81 in Quarter 4 (Q4) 2023, up 2.1% from €902.56 in Q4 2022.

  • Average hourly earnings rose by 2.1% to €28.43 in Q4 2023, from €27.85 in Q4 2022.

  • Average weekly paid hours were 32.4 in Q4 2023, remaining unchanged from Q4 2022.

  • The job vacancy rate at the end of Q4 2023 was 1.0%, lower than the 1.3% recorded at the end of Q4 2022, and down from 1.2% at the end of Q3 2023.

  • Average hourly other labour costs grew by 7.4% to €4.94 in Q4 2023, from €4.60 in Q4 2022.

  • The highest averages for hourly total labour costs in Q4 2023 were €55.18 in Information & Communication, and €47.07 in Education.

  • The Public Administration & Defence sector had the highest job vacancy rate at 2.4% in Q4 2023, followed by 1.7% in the Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (27 February 2024) issued Earnings and Labour costs results with Preliminary estimates for Quarter 4 (Q4) 2023 and Final estimates for Q3 2023.

Commenting on the data, Louise Egan, Statistician in the Earnings Analysis Division, said: “Preliminary estimates for October, November, and December (Q4) 2023 show average weekly earnings were €921.81, up 2.1% compared with €902.56 in Q4 2022.

Earnings and Hours

Average weekly earnings increased across 12 out of 13 sectors in the year to Q4 2023. The largest annual percentage increase in average weekly earnings in Q4 2023 was 9.8% in the Arts, Entertainment, Recreation & Other Service Activities sector.

Average hourly earnings grew on an annual basis by 2.1% to €28.43, while average weekly paid hours (32.4) showed no change between Q4 2022 and Q4 2023. Over the five years from Q4 2018 to Q4 2023, average hourly earnings rose by 21.9% from €23.33 to €28.43.

Labour Costs

Average hourly other labour costs rose by 7.4% across all economic sectors to €4.94 in Q4 2023 from €4.60 in Q4 2022, while average hourly total labour costs grew by 2.8% in the same period.

The sector with the highest average hourly total labour costs in Q4 2023 was the Information & Communication sector at €55.18. The lowest average total labour costs were in the Accommodation & Food Service Activities sector, which recorded a rate of €18.49.

Job Vacancy Rate

The job vacancy rate in Q4 2023, which measures job vacancies on the last working day of the quarter, was 1.0%, down from 1.2% at the end of Q3 2023 and down from 1.3% at the end of Q4 2022."

Preliminary Estimates Q4 2023

Headline Table: Earnings, Hours and Labour Costs, unadjusted and seasonally adjusted
 Average Weekly Earnings Average Hourly Earnings  Average Hourly Total Labour Costs Average Weekly Paid Hours
    Hours
Unadjusted
Q4 2022902.56 27.85 32.45 32.4
Q4 2023921.81 28.43 33.36 32.4
Annual % change 2.1 2.1 2.8 0.0
 Seasonally Adjusted
Q3 2023922.32 28.57 33.41 32.3
Q4 2023921.08 28.47 33.30 32.3
Quarterly % change -0.1  -0.4  -0.3  0.0
Figure 1: Average Weekly Earnings

Editor's Note

While there is no internationally agreed methodology for assessing the public/private sector wage gap, the CSO has published analysis of the differential using a matched Labour Force Survey and P35 dataset for 2015-2018. This analysis took account of compositional differences between the public and private sector, such as occupational mix, sectors of activity, gender balance, union membership, etc. The public sector pay gap in 2018 was estimated to range from -3.8% to +0.1% depending on the specification applied and the treatment of the Pension Levy.

See most recent analysis for 2015-2018 here. See also previous versions for 2009-2010 here (PDF 678KB) and for 2011-2014 here (PDF 686KB)

Earnings and Hours

Average weekly earnings were €921.81 in Q4 2023, an increase of 2.1% when compared with €902.56 from one year earlier, according to preliminary estimates of the Earnings and Labour Costs quarterly release.

The largest annual percentage increase in Q4 2023 in average weekly earnings was 9.8% in the Arts, Entertainment, Recreation & Other Services sector, rising from €590.81 to €649.00. The second largest increase was 8.3% in the Administrative and Support Services sector which rose from €696.87 to €754.55 over the year.

In the five years to Q4 2023, average weekly earnings rose by 21.7%. All sectors saw increases in average weekly earnings over this period.

Average hourly earnings grew on an annual basis by 2.1% to €28.43 in Q4 2023, while average weekly paid hours remained unchanged in the year. Over the five years from Q4 2018 to Q4 2023, average hourly earnings rose by 21.9% from €23.33 to €28.43, while average paid hours decreased 0.3% from 32.5 to 32.4 hours.

5 Year % Change
Information & communication34.8960205391528
Arts & entertainment30.6281826781797
Admin & support service26.2105879401187
Accommodation & food23.2167004732928
Health & social22.7000649718686
All sectors21.7376949591263
Professional & technical21.6106047336383
Construction17.9075577763897
Financial & real estate17.4091234687679
Education17.2769788378347
Industry17.2469761650658
Public admin & defence16.8310598111228
Wholesale & retail14.2955742975944
Transportation3.29086043151836
 
#REF!
X-axis labelUnadjustedSeasonally Adjusted
Q41622.1822.19
Q11722.6922.16
Q21722.2722.3
Q31722.1622.65
Q41722.622.63
Q11823.422.83
Q21822.9422.95
Q31822.6223.16
Q41823.3323.38
Q11924.0523.42
Q21923.6923.68
Q31923.5324.15
Q41924.2324.31
Q12024.7624.05
Q22025.3925.35
Q32024.3825.1
Q42025.5625.62
Q12126.8326.08
Q22126.0726.04
Q32125.2926.07
Q42126.2726.32
Q12227.4226.61
Q22226.7226.7
Q32226.1926.98
Q42227.8527.88
Q12328.5127.72
Q22328.1728.15
Q32327.828.57
Q42328.4328.47
Q4 2022Q4 2023
Industry26.7527.6
Construction25.0125.23
Wholesale & retail21.5222.5
Transportation23.9623.16
Accommodation & food15.4116.63
Information & communication40.5442.09
Financial & real estate36.337.2
Professional & technical31.5732.9
Admin & support service21.7823.7
Public admin & defence31.830.96
Education42.8542.12
Health & social27.7428.14
Arts & entertainment20.9622.02
All sectors27.8528.43
X-axis labelUnadjustedSeasonally Adjusted
Q41632.432.3
Q1173232.4
Q21732.432.4
Q31732.432.2
Q41732.432.3
Q11831.832.2
Q21832.532.5
Q31832.832.6
Q41832.532.4
Q11932.132.5
Q21932.632.6
Q31932.732.4
Q41932.532.4
Q12032.332.7
Q22032.232.2
Q32032.632.3
Q42033.133
Q12132.132.4
Q22132.632.7
Q32133.132.8
Q42132.932.8
Q12232.332.6
Q22232.632.7
Q32233.132.8
Q42232.432.3
Q12332.432.7
Q22332.332.4
Q32332.632.3
Q42332.432.3

Total Labour Costs

Average hourly total labour costs were €33.36 across all economic sectors in Q4 2023. Information & Communication had the highest average hourly total labour costs at €55.18, followed by €47.07 in the Education sector.

The sectors with the lowest cost of employing labour were Accommodation & Food Services Activities at €18.49 and Arts, Entertainment, Recreation & Other Service Activities at €25.58.

Average hourly total labour costs increased by 23.6% over the five years to Q4 2023, from €27.00 per hour to €33.36.

5 Year % Change
Information & communication39.9442049201116
Admin & support services 27.9645191409897
Accommodation & food27.5172413793103
Arts & entertainment26.1341222879684
Professional & technical25.7161043921069
All sectors23.5555555555556
Health & social 22.1097703386532
Wholesale & retail20.6185567010309
Public admin & defence20.2750352609309
Construction19.1498142798184
Education18.2960542849962
Industry17.8407079646018
Financial & real estate16.8539325842697
Transportation-0.808526277104015
body>

Public Sector

Average weekly earnings decreased by 1.6% across the public sector in the year to Q4 2023, dropping from €1,129.98 to €1,112.29.

The Building Momentum Public Service Agreement 2021-2022 was implemented in Q4 2022 and introduced an increase in the annualised basic salaries for public servants of 3%, which was backdated to 02 February 2022. Payments to public servants in Q4 2022 may have included backdated pay in relation to this Agreement, which impacts the annual percentage change of average weekly earnings.

An Garda Síochána had the highest average weekly earnings in Q4 2023 in the public sector at €1,471.40. The highest average hourly earnings in this period were €47.86 in the Education sector.

FALSE
Q4 2022Q4 2023
Civil service1095.191098.15
Defence942944.63
Garda Siochana1512.461471.4
Education1159.41116.3
Regional bodies1004.51008.34
Health1102.691106.47
Semi-state1177.21135.12
All public sector1129.981112.29
Q4 2022Q4 2023
Civil service4530046700
Defence93009900
Garda Siochana1420014400
Education111300113600
Regional bodies3560037300
Health171900164300
Semi-state5950062500

Job Vacancies

The job vacancy rate in Q4 2023, which measures job vacancies on the last working day of the quarter, was down at 1.0% from 1.3% in Q4 2022. It was down from 1.2% recorded at the end of Q3 2023.

The highest job vacancy rates in Q4 2023 were 2.4% in the Public Administration & Defence sector, followed by 1.7% in Financial Insurance & Real Estate sector.

There were 23,100 job vacancies, (rounded to the nearest 100), at the end of Q4 2023, down by 5,400 from the end of Q4 2022.

X-axis labelJob Vacancy Rate
Q4160.9
Q1171
Q2171.1
Q3171.1
Q4171
Q1181
Q2181.2
Q3181
Q4180.9
Q1191
Q2191.1
Q3190.9
Q4190.9
Q1200.8
Q2200.7
Q3200.8
Q4200.9
Q1211
Q2211.2
Q3211.5
Q4211.4
Q1221.6
Q2221.6
Q3221.6
Q4221.3
Q1231.4
Q2231.3
Q3231.2
Q4231

Tables

Table 1 Average weekly earnings by economic sector and other characteristics and quarter

Table 2 Average hourly earnings by economic sector and other characteristics and quarter

Table 3 Average weekly paid hours by economic sector and other characteristics and quarter

Table 4 Earnings, hours and labour costs, unadjusted and seasonally adjusted by quarter

Table 5a Average hourly earnings excluding irregular earnings by economic sector and other characteristics and quarter

Table 5b Average hourly irregular earnings by economic sector and other characteristics and quarter

Table 6a Average hourly other labour costs by economic sector and other characteristics and quarter

Table 6b Average hourly benefits in kind (BIK) by economic sector and other characteristics and quarter

Table 6c Average hourly total labour costs by economic sector and other characteristics and quarter

Table 7a Employment by economic sector and other characteristics and quarter

Table 7b Job vacancies by economic sector and other characteristics and quarter

Table 7c Job vacancy rate by economic sector and other characteristics and quarter

Table 8a Average weekly earnings by public sector sub-sector and quarter

Table 8b Average hourly earnings by public sector sub-sector and quarter

Table 8c Average weekly paid hours by public sector sub-sector and quarter

Table 8d Average hourly earnings excluding irregular earnings by public sector sub-sector and quarter

Table 8e Public sector employment by sub-sector and quarter

Table A1 Estimates of average weekly earnings by broad occupational categories

Table A2 Response rates in selected sectors by quarter

Table A3 Preliminary data versus final data