New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that average earnings in the economy continue to increase on an annual basis on the back of a stable job vacancy rate since over the last two years, as well as annual employment growth of 2%.
The CSO said that average weekly earnings rose by 3.1% to reach €1,011.88 in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from €981.45 in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Today's figures also reveal that average hourly earnings rose by 3.4% to €31.22 in the last three months of 2025, from €30.18 the same time in 2024.
The CSO said that average weekly earnings rose across all sectors in the year in the three month period under review.
The largest annual percentage increase in average weekly earnings was 6.8% in the Accommodation & Food Services Activities sector, followed by a rise of 6.2% in the Financial, Insurance & Real Estate Activities sector.
The CSO also said that average weekly paid hours decreased by 0.3% from 32.5 in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 32.4 in the fourth quarter of last year.
Meanwhile, average hourly other labour costs grew by 2.1% across all economic sectors to €5.47 in the three months from October to December 2025 from €5.36 during the same time in 2024.
Average hourly total labour costs increased by 3.3% to €36.70 in the same period, the CSO said.
The sector with the highest average hourly total labour costs was Information & Communication at €59.53. The lowest average total labour costs were in the Accommodation & Food Service Activities sector, which recorded a rate of €20.07.
