The accommodation and food services sector suffered the largest fall in employment during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the Central Statistics Office.
Five years on from the first Covid lockdowns, the research looks at the impact on employment, earnings and air travel.
The study found that employment in the accommodation and food sector fell by 38%, or 68,700 people, between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2020.
The next largest decrease in employment was in the administrative and support services sector.
"Interestingly, two economic sectors, Financial, Insurance & Real Estate Activities and Information & Communication, saw no decline in the numbers of people in employment during the pandemic," said Colin Hanley, CSO Statistician in the Labour Market & Earnings Division.
In the fourth quarter of 2019, the total number of people in employment was 2.4 million, which fell to a low point of 2.2 million in second quarter of 2020.
A year later, employment numbers had recovered and exceeded pre-pandemic levels.
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Covid five years on - the world of work
Over the course of the pandemic, almost 1.5 million people received Covid income supports.
Over 1 million people received income support in April 2020, the highest number in any month.
In the five years to the fourth quarter of 2024, average hourly earnings have grown by 24.7% and all economic sectors have seen increases in average hourly earnings.
Today's figures also show that the first significant impact on air passenger numbers occurred in March 2020 when 58% fewer passengers travelled through the five main Irish airports of Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Kerry.
In April 2020, just over 25,000 passengers passed through the five main airports, which was 99.2% lower than the 3.3 million passengers in April 2019.
It was August 2022 before a single month achieved 90% of its pre-pandemic passenger handling figure, and January 2023 before a single month surpassed its pre-pandemic levels.
The most recent aviation statistics show that more than 39.2 million people used the five main airports in 2023, which was the highest number of passengers recorded since the series began in 2013.
