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Earnings

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This chapter presents data on earnings and labour costs of employees compiled from the Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey (EHECS). The EHECS survey has been in operation since Quarter 1 2008 providing short-term trends of earnings and labour costs in the economy. These trends are published in the Earnings and Labour Costs Quarterly release, while annual totals and averages are also published in the Earnings and Labour Costs Annual release.

In this chapter, average earnings and hours are broken down by NACE economic sector for Q4 2014 and Q4 2015 in table 17.1. Average annual earnings are presented in table 17.2 for full-time, part-time and all employees for the period 2008 to 2015. Average annual earnings and its components are broken down by NACE economic sector for 2014 and 2015 in table 17.3. The total cost of employing labour in 2015 is illustrated in table 17.4.

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Average Weekly Earnings Q4 2014Average Weekly Earnings Q4 2015
Industry856.82858.41
Construction755.61749.57
Wholesale & Retail527.75549.15
Transportation756.18755.46
Accommodation & Food325.78327.13
Information & Comm.1031.691070.55
Financial activities1076.121022.29
Professional activities792.08829.03
Admin. activities500.42526.94
Public Admin. & Defence921.54928.81
Education805.55822.45
Health & Social679.14691.16
Arts & Entertainment487.6470.55
All sectors702.61710.16
17.1 Average earnings and hours worked by economic sector, Q4 2014 - Q4 2015

Interactive table: StatBank link

Average weekly earnings increase 1.1% to €710.16 in Q4 2015

Average weekly earnings of the main economic sectors in Q4 2015 ranged from a high of €1,070.55 in the Information and communication sector to a low of €327.13 in the Accommodation and food service activities sector. The Administrative and support service sector experienced the largest annual increase to Q4 2015 rising 5.3% from €500.42 to €526.94. The Financial, insurance and real estate activities sector saw the largest fall (-5.0%) in the year Q4 2014 to Q4 2015, decreasing from €1,076.12 to €1,022.29.

Average weekly paid hours increased by 1.6% from 31.9 to 32.4 between Q4 2014 and Q4 2015. Average weekly paid hours varied from a low of 24.0 hours in the Education sector and 26.3 hours in the Accommodation and food service activities sector to a high of 38.9 in the Industry sector. The Professional, scientific and technical activities sector saw the highest increase to Q4 2015 with average weekly paid hours rising 4.0% from 32.3 to 33.6. The Construction sector experienced a moderate fall in average weekly paid hours between Q4 2014 and Q4 2015 (-2.6%) dropping from 37.9 to 36.9.

Average hourly earnings in Q4 2015 were €21.89, a decrease of 0.7% from Q4 2014. Average hourly earnings of the main economic sectors in Q4 2015 ranged from a high of €34.26 in the Education sector to a low of €12.42 in the Accommodation and food service activities sector. The Information and communication sector experienced the largest annual increase to Q4 2015 rising 3.4% from €28.41 to €29.39. The Financial, insurance and real estate activities sector saw the largest fall (-7.3%) in the year Q4 2014 to Q4 2015, decreasing from €31.17 to €28.91. See graph above and table 17.1.

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All EmployeesFull-time EmployeesPart-time Employees
2008367924416015523
2009368344434616078
2010362314427415910
2011359154406215772
2012361454452315886
2013359764469915856
2014360904483616019
2015365194507516332
17.2 Average annual earnings by employee type, 2008 - 2015

Interactive table: StatBank link

Average annual earnings increase 1.2% to €36,519 in 2015

Average annual earnings for all employees, including regular, overtime and irregular earnings, were €36,519 in 2015, an increase of 1.2% from 2014. Average annual earnings were €45,075 for full-time employees in 2015 while part-time employees earned €16,332 on average in the year. 

Average annual earnings remained relatively stable from 2008 to 2015, dropping slightly from €36,792 in 2008 to €36,519 in 2015. There was a small rise in average annual earnings in 2009 followed by decreases in 2010 and 2011. Average annual earnings were €35,915 in 2011, the lowest level over the time period 2008 to 2015. Minor changes from 2012 to 2014 were followed by a rise of 1.2% in 2015 to bring average annual earnings to €36,519.

Average annual earnings for full-time employees increased 0.4% in 2009 to €44,346. It decreased in 2010 and again in 2011 to €44,062, the lowest level in the series. Since 2011 it has increased each year and now stands at €45,075 in 2015, 2.1% higher than the 2008 level.

Average annual earnings for part-time employees increased from €15,523 to €16,078 in 2009, remained quite static from 2010 to 2014 before increasing 2.0% to €16,332 in 2015, 5.2% higher than average annual earnings for part-time employees in 2008. See graph above (click on each employment type) and table 17.2.

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Irregular Earnings 2014Overtime Earnings 2014Regular Earnings 2014Irregular Earnings 2015Overtime Earnings 2015Regular Earnings 2015
Information & Comm534458647512603949349445
Financial activities548165647256426659548153
Public Admin. & Defence21381142445812169136644638
Industry29862403388192681228239205
Professional activities224027738649224335039381
Education5022154061547919741285
Transportation20891416345951897151335539
Construction982176735136870133034903
All sectors190792233260184593133743
Health & Social14931107324251466120232588
Wholesale & Retail144154925322158157825870
Admin. activities147252923845140756624972
Arts & Entertainment8363432325988638623149
Accommodation & Food2922621593238325716031
17.3 Average annual total earnings by component and economic sector, 2014 - 2015

Interactive table: StatBank link

Total All Sectors K-L Financial, insurance and real estate activities
B-E Industry M Professional, scientific and technical activities
F Construction N Administrative and support service activities
G Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles O Public Administration and defence; compulsory social security
H Transportation and storage P Education
I Accommodation and food service activities Q Human health and social work activities
J Information and communication R-S Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities

 

Average annual total earnings rise in 9 of the 13 sectors 

Average annual total earnings in 2015 were comprised of 92.4% regular earnings, 2.5% overtime earnings and 5.1% irregular earnings whereas average annual total earnings in 2014 were comprised of 92.1% regular earnings, 2.6% overtime earnings and 5.3% irregular earnings. The graph above illustrates the components of average annual total earnings by economic sectors in 2014 and 2015.

Average annual total earnings in 2015 varied across the economic sectors with the highest averages in Information and communication at €55,976 and Financial, insurance and real estate at €53,014. The Information and communication sector had the highest average regular earnings of €49,445 and the highest average irregular earnings of €6,039, making it the highest paid sector in 2015. The Industry sector recorded the highest average annual overtime earnings of €2,403 in 2014 and €2,282 in 2015. The Accommodation and food services sector recorded average annual total earnings of €16,671, the lowest of the sectors. This comprised of €16,031 regular earnings, €257 overtime earnings and €383 irregular earnings.

Average annual total earnings in 2015 rose in 9 of the 13 economic sectors. The largest percentage increase was 4.7% in the Information and communication sector where average annual earnings rose from €53,443 to €55,976. Average annual earnings in Administration and support services rose from €25,846 to €26,944 in 2015, an increase of 4.2% while there was an increase of 2.6% in Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, from €27,312 to €28,029 over the same time period. The largest decrease was in the Construction sector (-2.1%) where average annual earnings fell from €37,885 to €37,103 between 2014 and 2015. See graph above and table 17.3

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Proportion of Total Annual Labour Costs 2015 (%)
€46,792 million
Full-time Regular Earnings
68.8
€7,154 million
Part-time Regular Earnings
10.5
€418 million
Apprentice Earnings
0.6
€1,500 million
Overtime Earnings
2.2
€2,972 million
Irregular Earnings
4.4
€9,185 million
Other Labour Costs
13.5
17.4 Total annual labour costs components 2008 - 2015

Interactive table: StatBank link

Total annual labour costs €68.0 billion in 2015

The total cost of employing labour in 2015 was €68.0 billion. Full-time employee regular earnings were €46.8 billion (or 68.8% of total labour costs) while part-time employee regular earnings were €7.2 billion (10.5% of the total). The other main components were €9.2 billion (13.5%) other labour costs, €3 billion (4.4%) irregular earnings, €1.5 billion (2.2%) overtime earnings and €0.4 billion (0.6%) apprentice/trainee earnings. See graph above and table 17.4.

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