The CSO has recently published data on Household Disposable Incomes at county level as part of the ‘County Incomes and Regional GDP 2016’ release. This release contains useful trend data on incomes for counties as well as information about the levels of different household income components for each county. Data on regional GDP, which is also part of this release, will be considered in a future post.
Here I give an overview of the 2016 Disposable Income data (and the estimates for 2017) before considering some of the changes over time. It should be remembered that the ‘Disposable Incomes’ as discussed in this post are calculated at a macro level and the county data is most useful for comparison among counties and over time. Indeed the CSO notes that “While the county figures involve uncertainty, they do provide a useful indication of the degree of variability at county level.”
The map from the CSO below gives a quick overview of Household Disposable Income per person in 2016. It shows, unsurprisingly, that the highest disposable incomes are in the east and south, while counties in the west and north have the lowest disposable incomes. Dublin, Limerick and Kildare are the only counties where per capita disposable income exceeded the state average in 2016 although Wicklow, Cork and Waterford, were just below (see Figure 2below for more detail).
Source: CSO, 2019, County Incomes and Regional GDP 2016
A summary of key data for the Western Region is provided in Table 1 below. The data for 2016 can be regarded as more robust than the 2017 estimates and so it is used for most of the comparisons in this post. In 2016 Disposable income per person in the Western Region was €17,934 and in 2017 it had increased to €18,128 (I have calculated the Western Region figures using inferred population estimates).
Table 1: Disposable income data for Western Region counties
*CSO Estimate ^Own calculations
Source: CSO, 2019, County Incomes and Regional GDP 2016 and CSO Statbank Table CIA02
Disposable income per person in Donegal is consistently the lowest in the region (and nationally) and estimates for 2017 show a small decline (-0.6%) in incomes in Donegal between the two years. Disposable Incomes in Donegal in 2016 were only 77% of the state average. Only three Western Region counties (Sligo, Galway and Leitrim) had disposable incomes of more than 90% of the state average, while Clare had a disposable income of 88% of the state average, Mayo 86% and Roscommon 83%. The Western Region as a whole had a disposable income per person of 87% of the state average in 2016.
The small changes in disposable incomes between 2016 and the 2017 estimates are shown in Figure 1 below. As noted, there was a decline in Donegal, and in Leitrim, Mayo and Roscommon the growth was less than 1%. The most significant growth between 2016 and 2017 was in Clare (2.4%). For the Western Region as a whole, disposable incomes showed a growth of 1.1%. Disposable income per person in the State was €20,638 in 2016 and is estimated to have grown by 3.7% to €21,397 in 2017. As noted, however, the 2017 data is estimated. All counties showed more significant growth in Disposable Incomes between 2015 and 2016 (Table 1 above). The largest growth in the region that period was in Mayo (4.6%) and Roscommon (4.4%).
Figure 1: Disposable Income per person for Western Region counties and the State, 2016 and 2017 (€)
*CSO Estimate ^Own calculations
Source: CSO, 2019, County Incomes and Regional GDP 2016
Disposable income per person for all Irish counties is shown in Figure 2 below. Disposable income per person in Donegal is lowest in the state, and it is third lowest in Roscommon (Offaly is second lowest). In contrast, Sligo has the tenth highest disposable income per person, and Galway is in eleventh place. The highest disposable incomes nationally are in Dublin, Limerick and Kildare. These, along with Wicklow, Cork and Waterford, all have Disposable Income per person of more than €20,000 per annum.
Figure 2: Disposable Income per Person for all Counties, Western Region and State.
Source: CSO, 2019, County Incomes and Regional GDP 2016
Trends in Disposable Incomes over time
It is also interesting to look at changes in disposable incomes over time. Figure 3 shows trends in disposable incomes in the Western Region between 2000 and 2016. All of the counties show a very similar growth trajectory with rapid growth to the 2008 peak followed by rapid decline. There was a small peak in 2012 followed by a fall in 2013 which related to a decline in social transfers as discussed here. This decline between 2012 and 2013 which occurred in all counties, has mostly been followed by a period of growth to 2016.
Figure 3: Disposable Income per Person for Western Region Counties 2000-2016 (€)
Source: CSO, 2019, Statbank Table CIA02
Disposable Incomes in the Western Region compared to the State
While Figure 3 shows the actual Disposable Incomes per person, when considering the trends among counties it is helpful to use indices so that county figures can be examined relative to the State (State=100). Thus Figure 4 provides a contrast to the more positive growth trend indicated above in Figure 3 which showed growth in disposable incomes in Western Region counties between 2013 and 2016. Growth rates in the Western Region were lower than for the state as a whole and so Figure 4 shows that Disposable Incomes in Western Region counties are declining relative to the state average (although there is some recovery relative to the State indicated between 2015 and 2016). Figure 4 also reminds us that Galway was the only Western Region to have had a Disposable Income of higher than the state average during this period and this was only for one year in 2010.
Figure 4: Index of Disposable Incomes per person in Western Region counties 2000-2016, State=100
Source: CSO, 2019, Statbank Table CIA02
Have Disposable Incomes Recovered?
Given the significance of the peak in Disposable Incomes in 2008 it is interesting to examine how Disposable Incomes performed in 2016 relative to that peak. Although there has been some recovery in Disposable Income since their lowest point in 2013, Disposable Income per person in 2016 was below that for 2008 in all of the counties in Ireland (Figure 5). Indeed for seven of the counties Disposable income was over than €4,000 per person less in 2016 than it had been in 2008. Two of these counties (Roscommon and Clare) are in the Western Region. As was shown in Table 1 above Disposable Income in 2016 was more than 20% lower in Roscommon (€4,401) in 2016 than it had been in 2008, while in Clare it was more than 19.1% less (€4,277). Most significantly, in Meath incomes were €5,544 higher in 2008 than in 2016.
Figure 5: Difference in Household Disposable Income per person in 2008 and 2016
Source: CSO, 2019, Statbank Table CIA02
In contrast, Limerick is the county showing least difference in disposable income per person in 2008 compared with 2016 (- €321). Dublin and Kerry have also recovered relatively well, although there is still a significant difference between Disposable Incomes in these counties in 2016 and 2008. Of the Western Region counties Sligo has recovered best, with disposable incomes only 8% below that in 2008 (€1,746). Interestingly, Donegal (14% less) and Mayo (13%), which are among the Western Region counties with the lowest Disposable Incomes per person, also show a less significant gap to 2008 than other Western Region counties. However, it is of concern that disposable incomes in all counties are still considerably lower than they were in 2008. While the Irish economy has recovered well in the last few years, this has not fed through to disposable incomes as measured in this data.
The differences in disposable incomes among counties can be explained by the changing patterns in the components of household incomes (as was discussed here and here). I will examine trends in these in the most recent data on income components in a future post. The growth and change in the regional economies as shown by the Regional GVA data will also be examined in a future post.
Helen McHenry
WDC Insights 