Average earnings in Ireland by sector, and how pay compares with prices

Average weekly pay passed €1,040 in mid-2026, but it varies more than threefold between sectors. Here is what the CSO's latest earnings survey shows, from hourly rates to public and private pay, and whether wages are keeping up with inflation.

The average employee in Ireland earned €1,046.88 a week in April to June 2026. That is up 3.9% on a year earlier. But a worker in information and communication earned more than three times as much as one in hotels and restaurants.

The figures come from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey. They show pay before tax. The latest quarter is a first estimate and may be revised.

Pay rose faster than prices this spring

Weekly earnings rose 3.9% in the year to April to June 2026. Consumer prices rose 3.4% in the year to June 2026. So, on average, pay grew a little faster than prices over that year.

Since then, inflation has picked up. If pay growth stays near 3.9%, it would now be slightly behind prices. The next earnings figures, for July to September, will show whether that has happened.

Five years of pay against five years of prices

From early 2021 to early 2026, average weekly earnings rose from €860.51 to €1,064.59. That is a rise of about 23.7%. Over the same five years, consumer prices rose 24.0%.

In other words, the average pay packet has roughly kept pace with prices since 2021, but has not got ahead of them.

Over a full year, the current weekly average works out at roughly €54,400 before tax. That is a simple sum of 52 weeks, not an official annual figure.

Some sectors pulled ahead of prices, others fell behind

The five-year picture is not the same everywhere. In finance, insurance and real estate, weekly pay rose from €1,347 to €1,748 between early 2021 and early 2026. That is a rise of about 30%, well ahead of prices.

In wholesale and retail, weekly pay rose from €624 to €739 over the same period. That is about 18%, behind the 24% rise in prices.

What each sector pays

Weekly pay depends on hours as well as rates. In accommodation and food, the average works out at about 28 paid hours a week, against 32.8 across all jobs. Hourly figures give a fairer comparison.

Hourly pay by sector

Education ranks second on hourly pay but only seventh on weekly pay. That is because average paid hours in education are shorter, at about 24 a week.

Which sectors got the biggest rises

After accommodation and food, the biggest rise in weekly pay was in administrative and support services, up 5.6%. Professional, scientific and technical work was next, up 5.4%.

Weekly pay rose in 12 of the 13 sectors. The exception was arts, sport, recreation and other services, where it fell 4.7%, or about €33 a week.

Health and social work is the largest sector in the survey, with 338,300 employees. Wholesale and retail has 309,800, and industry 286,300.

Public and private sector pay

Public sector workers earn about €282 a week more on average. The CSO's own research says a fair comparison must take account of things like occupation, education and age. The private sector employs about four times as many people: 1,896,300 against 472,000.

A CSO study compared similar workers in 2022. When it took account of the size of the employer, public sector pay was 4.4% to 6.6% lower. Without that adjustment, the gap ranged from 0.9% higher to 1.4% lower.

What it costs employers

For employers, the average hourly cost of a worker was €37.73, up 4.1%. That includes €5.77 an hour in costs on top of pay. There were about 30,000 job vacancies, a vacancy rate of 1.3%.

Labour costs were highest in information and communication, at €61.40 an hour, and lowest in accommodation and food, at €20.27. Public administration and defence had the highest vacancy rate, 3.9%, followed by professional, scientific and technical work at 2.6%.