Average earnings now below €36,000 level
Average annual earnings fell to below the €36,000 mark last year, official figures have revealed today.
According to the CSO, the figure fell from €36,117 in 2010 to €35,905 in 2011, a drop of €212, or 0.06%.
This is a smaller drop than the one we experienced between 2009 and 2010 however, which was measured at 1.9%.
Total annual earnings of €54.9bn was recorded in 2011, a fall of 2% compared to the €56bn earned in 2010. In the three years to 2011, total annual earnings have fallen by 14.9%.
The largest percentage increase in annual average earnings in 2011 was recorded in the education sector (+1.7%), with the largest percentage decrease occurring in the arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities sector (-6.5%).
Across the economic sectors, average annual earnings fell in eight of the 13 sectors in 2011 when compared with average annual earnings in 2010.
Earnings are calculated as gross amounts before deductions for PRSI, tax and other levies such as the pension levy in the public sector introduced in March 2009.
Total annual earnings were down in 10 of the NACE economic sectors with the largest decrease in the administrative and support services sector, where there was a 9% decrease when comparing annual earnings in 2011 and 2010.
The largest increase in total annual earnings was in the transportation and storage sector, which had an increase of 2%.
