The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has published Business in Ireland 2025 - Labour Market and Social Sustainability, the fourth in a series of releases that looks at data relating to enterprises through the lens of sustainability. The release looks the factors that can impact enterprise economy sustainability, and how enterprises impact more broadly on social sustainability in Ireland (living standards, gender equality, etc.).
The report finds that total employment (employees and self-employed) was 2.8 million in Q4 2025, with the number of employees increasing by 355,332 between 2019 and 2024. Non-Irish nationals contributed 61 percent or 218,261 of the growth. Some sectors of the enterprise economy are more reliant on non-national labour supply than others, particularly Administrative & Support Services (45.6 percent), Accommodation & Food Services (45.1 percent), and Information & Communication (41.4 percent) sectors. Compared with the EU, Ireland’s labour market has a different sectoral profile: the Information & Communication sector which, in 2024, accounted for 6.7 percent of employments in Ireland is almost double the EU average for this sector (3.5 percent).
The report contains information on educational attainment, contribution from the enterprise economy to broader social sustainability, median weekly earnings from all sectors, and enterprises’ responsibilities in relation to gender equality.
It also notes that Ireland’s demographics are changing, with fewer births and an ageing population, which could have implications for future labour supply.
Commenting on the release, Morgan O’Donnell, Statistician in the Sustainability, Circular Economy & Transport division said: “Sustainability is of increasing importance to enterprises, in terms of meeting environmental regulations and expectations, but also from an economic and social perspective. There is increasing national and international recognition that economic growth alone is not a sufficient measure of success, and that long term prosperity depends on achieving a balanced integration of economic, environmental, and social outcomes. This release is the fourth in a series which attempts to build that broader picture and provide greater insights for enterprises around sustainability and climate targets.”
LOADING...