Economic Outlook No 114 — Total employment in Ireland

Ireland: Economic Outlook No 114 — Total employment was 2.70 million in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
2.70 million
Change on year
up 1.5%
World rank
31st
of 35 countries
All-time high
2.70 million
in 2025
All-time low
1.21 million
in 1991
Years of data
36
1990–2025

Economic Outlook No 114 — Total employment in Ireland, 1990–2025

01.0M2.0M3.0M1990200720251990: 1.2M1991: 1.2M1992: 1.2M1993: 1.2M1994: 1.3M1995: 1.3M1996: 1.4M1997: 1.5M1998: 1.6M1999: 1.7M2000: 1.8M2001: 1.8M2002: 1.9M2003: 1.9M2004: 1.9M2005: 2.0M2006: 2.1M2007: 2.2M2008: 2.2M2009: 2.0M2010: 1.9M2011: 1.9M2012: 1.9M2013: 1.9M2014: 2.0M2015: 2.1M2016: 2.1M2017: 2.2M2018: 2.3M2019: 2.3M2020: 2.3M2021: 2.4M2022: 2.5M2023: 2.6M2024: 2.7M2025: 2.7M

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Analysis

Ireland recorded 2.70 million for economic outlook no 114 — total employment in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.

That represents a change of up 1.5% on the previous year and up 31.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, economic outlook no 114 — total employment in Ireland peaked at 2.70 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 1.21 million, in 1991.

That places Ireland 31st out of 35 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.

Economic Outlook No 114 — Total employment in Ireland, year by year

Annual values for Economic Outlook No 114 — Total employment (labour force survey basis) in Ireland, 1990 to 2025.
Year Value Change
1990 1.21 million
1991 1.21 million -0.3%
1992 1.22 million +0.8%
1993 1.24 million +1.5%
1994 1.28 million +3.2%
1995 1.34 million +5.0%
1996 1.39 million +3.6%
1997 1.47 million +5.5%
1998 1.59 million +8.5%
1999 1.70 million +6.6%
2000 1.77 million +4.4%
2001 1.82 million +2.8%
2002 1.85 million +1.5%
2003 1.89 million +1.9%
2004 1.95 million +3.2%
2005 2.04 million +4.7%
2006 2.13 million +4.5%
2007 2.22 million +4.2%
2008 2.20 million -1.0%
2009 2.01 million -8.3%
2010 1.92 million -4.5%
2011 1.89 million -1.9%
2012 1.88 million -0.4%
2013 1.94 million +3.0%
2014 1.99 million +2.7%
2015 2.06 million +3.4%
2016 2.13 million +3.7%
2017 2.19 million +2.8%
2018 2.25 million +2.8%
2019 2.32 million +3.0%
2020 2.25 million -2.8%
2021 2.39 million +6.0%
2022 2.55 million +6.6%
2023 2.63 million +3.3%
2024 2.66 million +1.1%
2025 2.70 million +1.5%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 1.37 million 1.21 million 1.70 million 10
2000s 1.99 million 1.77 million 2.22 million 10
2010s 2.06 million 1.88 million 2.32 million 10
2020s 2.53 million 2.25 million 2.70 million 6

Countries ranked near Ireland

  1. 28 New Zealand 2.98 million compare
  2. 29 Norway 2.91 million compare
  3. 30 Denmark 2.84 million compare
  4. 32 Finland 2.66 million compare
  5. 33 Costa Rica 2.12 million compare
  6. 34 Luxembourg 297,754 compare

See the full ranking of 46 places →

More economy & growth data for Ireland

All data for Ireland →

Frequently asked questions

What is economic outlook no 114 — total employment in Ireland?
Economic outlook no 114 — total employment in Ireland was 2.70 million in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
What is the highest economic outlook no 114 — total employment recorded in Ireland?
The highest recorded value was 2.70 million in 2025.
What is the lowest economic outlook no 114 — total employment recorded in Ireland?
The lowest recorded value was 1.21 million in 1991.
How does Ireland rank for economic outlook no 114 — total employment?
Ireland ranks 31st out of 35 countries with data for 2025.
Is economic outlook no 114 — total employment rising or falling in Ireland?
Over the last ten years it is up 31.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Ireland data come from?
The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Economic Outlook No 114 — Total employment (labour force survey basis). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Economic Outlook No 114 — Total employment in Ireland. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 07 September 2026, from https://economy.statizoid.com/stat/economic-outlook-no-114-total-employment-labour-force-survey-basis/ireland/

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About this data

Indicator
Economic Outlook No 114 — Total employment (labour force survey basis)
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
46 places, 2,067 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed

The OECD Economic Outlook presents the OECD’s analysis of the major global economic trends and prospects for the next two years. The Outlook puts forward a consistent set of projections for output, employment, government spending, prices and current balances based on a review of each member country and of the induced effect on each of them on international developments. EO114 Database inventory EO114 Last historical points OECD Economic Outlook website: https://www.oecd.org/economic-outlook/ Contact: eco.outlook@oecd.org