Latest Laois News: Laois Disposable Incomes among lowest in country

Laois Disposable Incomes among lowest nationwide

The latest set of figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) lays out in stark detail how counties were doing during 2018 in the disposable income stakes. It comes as little or no surprise that Dublin and its commuter belt counties of Wicklow and Kildare along with Limerick and Cork are bucking the national trend of static or falling disposable incomes for households.

Commenting on the release, John Milne, Statistician, said: 

“Dublin incomes continued to rise above the average in 2018. People in Dublin earned 17% more than the average state income and 6% more than those in Kildare which had the second highest income level at 10% above the average.

Dublin, Kildare, Limerick, Wicklow, Meath and Cork in that order, are the only counties where per capita disposable income exceeded the state average of €21,270 in 2018.

The gap between the maximum and minimum value of per capita disposable income, on a regional basis, increased from €6,430 in 2017 to €7,578 in 2018, due to Dublin regional incomes increasing by €1,348 (5.7%) while those of the lowest region, Border, increased by only €199 (1.2%) to €17,391. Incomes in the Midland region dropped by €420 between 2017 and 2018 to €17,389.”

There you have it. Income levels dropped in the wider Midland region including Laois between 2017 and 2018.

Average income levels were highest in Dublin during the period between 2017 and ’18. Compared to the National Average Disposable Income per Person in 2018 Laois lags below 90% of the State Average.

The latest 2017 and 2018 figures show so clearly how much each person’s income dropped between the two years in all four Midlands counties. In 2018 the Laois figure stood at €17,302, a considerable drop of €561, Offaly with a figure of €16,907 was down by a figure €294, Longford at the €17,410 mark fell almost as much as Laois with a drop of €533 and while Westmeath has the highest income out of the four Midlands counties, income as fell there by €340 to €17,889.

To quote Brian Stanley TD on this set of figures:

“Compare these figures to Dublin where disposable personal income is at €24,969 or Limerick on €23,302, it is clear that the Midlands and in particular Laois and Offaly are way behind.”