29-07-2025
Median earnings for men almost €150 higher per week than women, CSO figures show
Median weekly earnings increased by 4.5 per cent last year, new data from the
Central Statistics Office
(CSO) shows.
The median, or mid-point, in weekly earnings – seen as a more reliable indicator of wealth than the mean, which can be distorted by small numbers of high earners – increased to €730.89 in 2024 from €699.28 the year before.
Mean weekly earnings rose 5.3 per cent to €942.73.
The data also shows that a
gender pay
gap persists, with median weekly earnings among men at €802.14, almost €150 higher than those among women at €654.07.
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The gender pay gap does not mean unequal pay for the same work, which is illegal, but instead reflects differences in the representation of men and women in higher paid jobs.
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The data shows some signs the gap is closing, in that median weekly earnings for women have increased by 10.3 per cent since 2022, compared with 8.1 per cent for men.
However, more than 20 per cent of jobs paid less than €400 per week, of which 63.2 per cent were made up of female employees. Almost 39 per cent of the jobs in this earnings bracket were taken up by workers aged 15-24 years.
In contrast, 12.3 per cent of jobs recorded weekly earnings of €1,600 or more, of which just 34.8 per cent were filled by women.
Despite recording the lowest median weekly earnings, 15 to 24-year-olds recorded the largest annual increase in median weekly earnings at 6 per cent from €353.44 to €374.47.
Irish nationals accounted for the largest proportion of people in employment at 72.5 per cent, followed by those from the EU excluding Ireland (12.1 per cent).
Median weekly earnings among Irish nationals stood at €762.72, which was an increase of 4.8 per cent from €728.03.
While Indian nationals recorded the highest median weekly earnings at €876.04, they were the only group from the individually listed nationalities to record a decrease in median weekly earnings, down 0.9 per cent from €883.74.
CSO statistician Dr Eimear Heffernan said it was possible the decrease among Indian nationals was linked to the fall in the proportion of Indian people working in a number of 'typically high earning economic sectors'.
She said these included information and communication (down 2.1 percentage points); professional, scientific and technical activities (down 0.8 percentage points); and financial, insurance, and property (down 0.3 percentage points).
Jobs in the information and communication (€1,440.36) and financial, insurance and property (€1,027.24) sectors recorded the highest median weekly earnings, while the lowest were recorded among jobs in accommodation and food services (€391.62).
Despite similar annual increases in weekly earnings among public and private sector jobs, the median weekly earnings among public sector jobs (€1,009.44) were 52.5 per cent higher than those in the private sector (€661.87).
The data also show that people working in Dublin are likely to earn more. The median weekly earnings for people usually resident in Dublin were €821.42, which was 12.4 per cent higher than the wider State at €730.89.
Furthermore, earnings in Dublin were 36.1 per cent higher than Donegal at €603.67, which had the lowest median weekly earnings.
