
Rural Ireland's lower household incomes highlighted in report
Irish Rural Link has warned that lower incomes in rural areas are a direct 'reflection of the quality of jobs' available in some areas.
The national network representing the interest of rural communities has welcomed the findings of a report issued this week by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on the Geographical Profiles of Income in Ireland 2022.
Source: CSO
According to Irish Rural Link the CSO report confirms what it has repeatedly highlighted in relation to low incomes of rural households 'for many years' .
The CSO report set out that the Carndonagh local electoral area in Donegal had the lowest household income of €35,614, with the household income for Lifford of €31,959. Donegal as a whole had the lowest household income in the country at €42,497.
Leitrim, Longford and Kerry had the lowest household income in their region at €45,267, €47,217 and €48,320 respectively.
Irish Rural Link said: 'Many of the jobs in these counties and within the rural towns of these counties are minimum wage, and have precarious working hours, in sectors like tourism, retail, low skill manufacturing.
'We know from our members and research from colleagues in Vincentian MESL research centre that households in rural areas working in minimum wage jobs have a deeper income inadequacy than peer households in urban areas.
'The extra cost of keeping a car on the road, and for most families, two cars, adds to family household expenses.'
Job creation
The group believes that although remote working 'is not a silver bullet' it can go some way to improve job opportunities in rural Ireland.
'We continue to call for a more regionally balanced approach to job creation, and also better recognition of the jobs created in sectors of tourism, retail, and hospitality that are important contributors to the overall economy,' it added.
Irish Rural Link represents the interests of locally based groups in disadvantaged and marginalised areas by highlighting problems, advocating appropriate policies, sharing experiences, and examples of good practice.
It has a membership of over 600 rural community groups dedicated to sustainable development and represents communities at a national and international level.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


RTÉ News
4 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Median household net wealth up 29% between 2020 and 2023
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the median net wealth value of Irish households was €256,900 in 2023. This marked an increase of €58,500 or 29% on the 2020 value of €198,400. Net wealth is the value of any assets owned minus the value of any debt and the median value is obtained by arranging all households in ascending order from the smallest to the largest value and then selecting the middle value. The CSO said that property is the main source of wealth with 46% of gross wealth coming from the value of the main residence. Today's figures show that 68% of households owned their main residence in 2023 with a median value of €340,000, up €80,000 or 30.8% from the €260,000 median value in 2020. The median net wealth for households that own their main residence was €391,600 in 2023 compared with €10,200 for those who rent or those living rent free. To be in the top 10% of households, a net household wealth of about €1,024,000 is needed. The CSO said this threshold was up from €838,000 in 2020 and is the highest ever recorded in this survey which began in 2015. The bottom 10% of households had less than €2,400 in household net wealth in 2023, the CSO said. This threshold was up from €1,300 in 2020. Today's figures show that the Eastern & Midland region (Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare, Meath, Louth, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath and Laois) had the highest median net wealth at €264,400. This was followed by the Southern region (Clare, Tipperary, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford, Cork and Kerry) at €251,700 and the Northern & Western region (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan, Galway, Mayo and Roscommon) at €239,000. The CSO said this was mainly driven by higher house prices in the Eastern & Midland region which includes Dublin and its commuter counties. Meanwhile, 66% of households had some form of debt in 2023 such as a mortgage, personal loan, or credit card balance. This was down from 69% in 2020. The median value of debt, for those that had it, was €34,600, up from €25,000 in 2020.


Irish Times
7 hours ago
- Irish Times
Wealthiest 10% of Irish households have net wealth in excess of €1m
The wealthiest 10 per cent of households in the State have a net wealth, over debt, of at least €1,024,000, up from €838,000 in 2020 and the highest ever recorded. The wealth divide was highlighted in the latest household finance and consumption survey from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), which found that the bottom 10 per cent of households have a net wealth of at most €2,400. The figures, which relate to 2023, show that more than two-thirds, 67 per cent, of all households owned their main residence in 2023, either with or without a mortgage. This is down from 69.6 per cent in 2020. The median value of the residence was €340,000, an increase of €80,000 or 30.8 per cent on the €260,000 reported three years prior. READ MORE The CSO's survey indicated that the median or midpoint net wealth value of Irish households in 2023 was €256,900, an increase of €58,500 or 29.5 per cent since 2020 when it was €198,400. [ 'Retired households' hold 27% of net wealth in Ireland, says Goodbody Opens in new window ] The only household age group to see a fall in median net wealth was those under 35, where median net wealth fell from €27,600 in 2020 to €23,400 in 2023. Households where the reference person was aged 65 and over had a value of €404,200. The CSO warned that, with the overall share of the over 65 population growing from 12.3 per cent in 2020 to 15.3 per cent in 2023, can result in a 'higher net wealth at a national level' but can also 'hide trends' in younger households. Net wealth was found to be highest in the eastern and midlands region, which includes Dublin. The region had a median value of €264,400 in 2023. It was followed by the southern region at €251,700, and the northern and western region at €239,000. Net wealth is calculated by adding the total value of assets, such as a home, shares, pensions and cash savings, and subtracting debt owed or liabilities. Renters The survey found that owner-occupiers had a median net wealth of €391,600 in 2023 compared with €10,200 for those who rented. This gap has widened since 2020, when it stood at €303,900 for owner-occupiers and €5,300 for renters. Property is the primary source of wealth in Irish households, 46 per cent of gross wealth came from the value of the main residence. The CSO found that 30 per cent of households had a mortgage on their main residence with the median outstanding balance being €117,900. While households with mortgages had a median loan-to-value ratio of 45.2 per cent in 2020, that fell to 36 per cent in 2023, driven by house price increases in the period. Amid rises in the cost of living, the number of households that reported expenses higher than their incomes in the past 12 months almost doubled. In 2020, the figure stood at 7.5 per cent, rising to 13.6 per cent of households in 2023.


Irish Times
8 hours ago
- Irish Times
New car owners increasingly opting for electric or hybrid over petrol or diesel
The popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles continued last month as sales rose 12 per cent and 35 per cent respectively compared with the same period last year, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows. The total number of new private cars licensed in May fell by 16 per cent from 10,055 to 8,403. The number of used cars licensed increased by 10 per cent from 5,592 to 6,144 over the same period. The number of new EVs licensed in May rose by 12 per cent from 1,234 to 1,382. This means the share of EVs among new private cars from January to May was 16 per cent compared with 13 per cent in the same period of last year. The number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles licensed grew by 35 per cent from 1,055 to 1,419. READ MORE Comparing the first five months of the year, the number of new electric cars licensed has increased 26 per cent from 9,458 to 11,877, while the number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles licensed increased by 74 per cent, from 6,300 to 10,988 over the same period. This increased the year-to-date share of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles among new private cars to 15 per cent from 9 per cent. [ EV Q&A: Why doesn't Ireland use roadside furniture for charging electric vehicles? Opens in new window ] The combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed from January to May has fallen to 44 per cent from 56 per cent last year. From January to May, some 19,717 new cars licensed were petrol compared with 24,009 in the same period of 2024, a fall of 18 per cent. Comparing the first five months of 2025 with 2024, the number of new diesel cars licensed fell by 26 per cent to 12,485 from 16,772. The data also shows that Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in May at 1,405 vehicles, followed by Toyota (1,020), Hyundai (701), Kia (675) and Skoda (674). Together, these five makes represented more than half (53 per cent) of all new private cars licensed in the month. The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in May was Hyundai Getz (104), followed by Volkswagen ID.4 (92), and Skoda Elroq (64).