The number of employees in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector has declined in the second quarter (Q2) of this year, according to latest labour force statistics by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
A total of 104,700 people aged 15-89 years were employed in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector between April and June 2024. This is down by 3,800 people compared to a total labour force of 108,500 in Q1.
The number of employees in the sector, however, remains above its corresponding figure for 2023, with a total of 101,900 people working in the sector in Q2 last year, the CSO Labour Force Survey for Q2 2024 shows.
The agriculture, forestry and fishing labour force jumped to 114,700 employees in Q3 2023, before gradually declining to 112,900 in Q4 2023; 108,500 in Q1 2024; and the most recent figure of 104,700 in Q2 2024, according to CSO data.
The latest decline in the number of employees in the sector is due to a drop in the number of male employees which fell from 94,500 in Q1 to 90,700 in Q2. Meanwhile, the number of females in the sector remained at 14,000.
Labour force
The Labour Force Survey is a continuous, nationwide survey of households in Ireland, primarily designed to produce quarterly labour force estimates, including the official measures of employment and unemployment.
The employment rate for the state, which is defined as the share of persons in the total population of persons aged 15-64 years who are in employment, was 74.4% in Q2 2024, up from 74.2% a year earlier, the CSO said.
Persons who worked in the week before the survey for one hour or more for payment or profit, including work on the family farm or business, and all persons who had a job but were not at work because of illness, holidays etc. are considered “in employment”.
The CSO notes that as per Eurostat’s (the statistical office of the EU) operational implementation, the upper age limit for classifying a person as “employed” is 89 years.