The disposable income in most rural counties is below the state average, according to the latest data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The CSO’s ‘County Incomes and Regional GDP 2021’ report shows that Co. Donegal had the lowest disposable income per person in 2021 at €19,253 – this is 21% below the state average.
The county with the second lowest disposable income per person was Co. Laois at €19,659, followed by Co. Kilkenny at €19,696.
On the other end of the scale, Dublin’s disposable income per person stood at €27,958 in 2021. This is 15% higher than the state average, having risen a further 3.8% from 2020.
Co. Limerick was the second wealthiest county at €25,190 per person, followed by Co. Wicklow at €24,702.
Commenting on the report, statistician, Aoife Crowe said: “Disposable income in Dublin city and county remained the largest in the state in 2021, accounting for €40 billion of the state total.
“The midlands region continued to be the lowest in terms of disposable income. The income of the region accounted for €6.7 billion overall, and was 10.9% below the state average per person.”
The figures suggest that Dublin city and county is the only region where disposable income per person is significantly above the state average.
The border and midland regions are “consistently below the state average” for disposable income. These regions are highly dependent on the public sector to accumulate wealth and employment according to the CSO.
Across the nation, employment increased in 2021, despite the decline in employment in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The largest increase in employment was along the border region, which saw an 11.1% increase from 2020.
The highest proportion of workers reside in counties Dublin, Cork, Galway and Kildare, in that order.
Dublin city and county had 30% of all employed persons in the state working in the area in 2021, followed by Cork city and county, with 13% of all employed persons working there.
The border and midland regions have the lowest proportion of workers, due to smaller populations and a lack of industry compared to bigger cities.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was highest in the Dublin region with €199.1 billion, followed by the south-west region at €115.7 billion.
Overall, manufacturing was the most valuable industry in nearly all regions in 2021, except for the midlands region, where the public sector holds the largest share of GDP.