IRELAND ranked among the European Union’s top three highest-paying countries in 2024.
New data from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency, shows that Ireland’s average annual full-time salary reached €61,100 last year, placing it third behind Denmark (€71,600) and Luxembourg (€83,000).
The EU-wide average stood at €39,800, meaning Irish workers earned more than 50 per cent above the bloc’s mean level.
The figures show how wages have been consistently rising in Ireland, particularly post-pandemic.
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the trend has continued into 2025.
In the second quarter of this year, average weekly earnings reached €1,015.43, a 5.3 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.
Average hourly pay also moved higher, reaching €31.04, up 4.3 per cent year on year.
While Irish salaries are among the highest in the EU, major differences remain across the bloc.
Bulgaria recorded the lowest average annual salary at €15,400, with Greece and Hungary following at just over €18,000.
The gap between the highest- and lowest-paid EU members remains vast, with a worker in Luxembourg earning about €67,000 more per year than one in Bulgaria.
Ireland’s government is also targeting lower-wage workers through tax and wage policy changes.
From January 2026, the national minimum wage will rise to €14.50 per hour, alongside an increase in the Universal Social Charge (USC) 2 per cent rate band ceiling to €28,700.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said the move would “ensure that full-time workers on the minimum wage remain outside the higher USC rates”, describing it as part of the government’s broader effort to protect take-home pay and promote fairness in the tax system.
Despite the positive overall wage picture, the latest CSO data highlights a persistent gender pay divide, particularly among younger or newly employed workers.
In 2024, new workers had a median weekly earning of €428.58, up 6 per cent on the previous year.
But a sharp difference emerged between men and women: new male workers earned €489.08 per week, while new female workers earned €356.88 per week.
This means that women entering the workforce earned roughly 27 per cent less than their male counterparts.
The highest pay for new entrants was recorded in the information and communications sector at €1,013.62 per week, while the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector saw the lowest at €264.19.
Young workers continue to form a large share of this group, with more than 40 per cent of new entrants aged between 15 and 24.
