AtiveSite Jobs World → 21 best countries → Ireland

Working in Ireland

Country dossier: official statistics, cities, pay rules, immigration routes and industries, with every source and year shown.

In short: Ireland: 5,484,367 residents, GDP per capita (PPP) US$ 155,089, unemployment 4.6%. Languages: English, Irish. Free-movement area: EU. Live job board: planned.

By AtiveSite · Published 06/11/2026 · Updated 06/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.

5,484,367residents (World Bank)
US$ 155,089GDP per capita, PPP
4.6%unemployment
83.0 yearslife expectancy
Dublincapital

Overview

Ireland is one of the 21 countries in the AtiveSite world dossier. This page is the starting point: from here you jump to its cities, labour statistics, pay and minimum-wage rules, immigration routes, industries and (where we already have them) live jobs. Each block shows its source and year; data we have not yet collected is marked as planned, never guessed.

Sort:
Fact ⇅Value ⇅
CapitalDublin
RegionWestern Europe
LanguagesEnglish, Irish
CurrencyEUR
Free-movement areaYes: EU
Population5,484,367 (2025, World Bank)
Minimum wage systemStatutory minimum wage.

Compare the 21 countries

Economy

NATIONAL (Ireland) Official / international statistics Source: World Bank Open Data · Data: latest available year per indicator (shown)

Sort:
Indicator ⇅Value ⇅Year ⇅
Population5,484,3672025
GDP per capita (current US$)US$ 131,5922025
GDP per capita, PPP (current international $)US$ 155,0892025
GNI per capita, PPPUS$ 106,3102025
Unemployment rate (ILO model)4.6%2025
Youth unemployment (15–24)10.5%2025
Labour force participation rate64.8%2025
Employment-to-population ratio61.8%2025
Wage and salaried workers (% of employment)86.6%2025
Self-employed (% of employment)13.4%2025
Inflation (consumer prices, annual)2.2%2025
Urban population64.6%2025
Migrants (% of population)23.1%2024

Employment by sector (share of total employment)

Agriculture3.9% (2025)
Industry18.2% (2025)
Services77.9% (2025)

World Bank series modelled by the ILO and national sources; years differ by indicator and country, so compare within the same year when possible.

Quality of life

NATIONAL (Ireland) Official / international statistics Source: World Bank Open Data · Data: latest available year per indicator (shown)

Sort:
Indicator ⇅Value ⇅Year ⇅
Life expectancy at birth83.0 years2024
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people0.652023
Current health expenditure (% of GDP)6.9%2024
Government expenditure on education (% of GDP)2.9%2021
PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure (µg/m³)7.52023
Individuals using the Internet (% of population)97.2%2024

Safety, health and environment indicators are national averages. They describe the country, not a specific city or neighbourhood.

Cities

CITY (places, not administrative areas) Open geographic database Source: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) · Data: export of 06/11/2026

Dublin (1,024,027)Cork (224,004)Limerick (102,287)Galway (85,910)Tallaght (81,022)Waterford (60,079)Drogheda (44,135)Dundalk (43,112)Swords (40,776)Navan (33,886)Bray (33,512)Dún Laoghaire (31,239)Ennis (27,923)Carlow (27,351)Douglas (26,883)DublinCorkLimerickGalwayTallaght
Ireland: the largest cities

Circle size follows population. Click a circle to jump to the table row.

City guides for this country are on the roadmap; the same layers built for Norway (jobs, industries, commuting, companies, pay and cost) will follow.

Sort:
# ⇅City ⇅Population (GeoNames) ⇅Lat, lon ⇅Map ⇅
1Dublin1,024,02753.33, -6.25Map
2Cork224,00451.90, -8.47Map
3Limerick102,28752.66, -8.62Map
4Galway85,91053.27, -9.05Map
5Tallaght81,02253.29, -6.37Map
6Waterford60,07952.26, -7.11Map
7Drogheda44,13553.72, -6.35Map
8Dundalk43,11254.00, -6.42Map
9Swords40,77653.46, -6.22Map
10Navan33,88653.65, -6.68Map
11Bray33,51253.20, -6.10Map
12Dún Laoghaire31,23953.29, -6.14Map
13Ennis27,92352.84, -8.99Map
14Carlow27,35152.84, -6.93Map
15Douglas26,88351.87, -8.44Map
16Tralee26,07952.27, -9.70Map
17Portlaoise23,49453.03, -7.30Map
18Athlone22,86953.42, -7.94Map
19Droichead Nua22,74253.18, -6.80Map
20An Muileann gCearr22,66753.52, -7.34Map
21Letterkenny22,54954.95, -7.73Map
22Sandyford22,28853.27, -6.23Map
23Greystones22,00953.14, -6.06Map
24Balbriggan21,72253.61, -6.18Map
25Kilkenny21,58952.65, -7.25Map
26Wexford21,52452.33, -6.46Map
27Naas20,71353.22, -6.67Map
28Sligo20,60854.27, -8.47Map
29Celbridge20,28853.34, -6.54Map

GeoNames populations come from several public sources and can refer to the city proper or the urban area; compare with the national statistics office before relying on a figure.

Pay & minimum wage

NATIONAL (Ireland) Official statistics + editorial summary Source: Eurostat earn_mw_cur · World Bank · Data: Eurostat 2026 semesters · World Bank latest year

Sort:
Item ⇅Value ⇅
Minimum wage systemStatutory minimum wage.
Statutory minimum, EUR per month (Eurostat, euro-area/EU members)EUR 2,391/month (2026-S2)
GDP per capita (current US$)US$ 131,592
GDP per capita, PPPUS$ 155,089
GNI per capita, PPPUS$ 106,310

Wages by occupation, city and experience need this country's national statistics office dataset. They are on the roadmap, and we will publish them only with a clear scope label and source.

The minimum-wage line is an AtiveSite editorial summary of the system (verify with the labour authority linked in the Immigration and law tab). GDP per capita is not a wage.

Immigration & law

NATIONAL (Ireland) Official links + editorial summary Source: official government and agency sites (links checked 06/11/2026) · Data: read 06/11/2026

Free movement: Citizens of the EU/EEA/EFTA area generally have rights to work here under free-movement rules, subject to registration requirements. Citizens of other countries normally need a permit.

Sort:

Challenges to expect: Housing costs are high in Dublin. Only links that answered on 06/11/2026 are listed; some official sites block automated checks and are therefore not shown.

Industries

NATIONAL (editorial shortlist) Editorial: industries to research, not vacancy counts Source: AtiveSite research shortlist · Data: 06/11/2026

Sort:
Industry to research ⇅Where to look ⇅
Software developmentPublic job portal
CybersecurityPublic job portal
PharmaceuticalsPublic job portal
BiotechnologyPublic job portal
Financial servicesPublic job portal
Customer supportPublic job portal
EngineeringPublic job portal

This is a shortlist of industries worth researching, based on public reporting of the economy; it is not a ranking and not a count of vacancies. Regulated professions may require licensing, language tests and recognition of foreign qualifications.

Jobs & platform

COUNTRY (Ireland) Platform status Source: AtiveSite platform roadmap · Data: 06/11/2026

We do not have a live vacancy feed for Ireland yet. Its dossier is complete in every layer we can build from open official data, and the vacancy modules below plug into this same page when they go live.

Sort:
Module ⇅Status ⇅What it adds ⇅Open ⇅
Live job board (official feeds, aggregated)plannedOfficial public job feed, applications on the employer's or authority's site–
AtiveSite vacancies (employers publish directly)plannedEmployer accounts, vacancy publishing, applications inside AtiveSite–
Employer profiles (company X-ray)plannedHistory, culture, benefits, the city they are in, verified data–
Candidate profiles and CVsplannedPrivate by default; companies see only what the candidate allows–
Services and freelancersplannedIndependent professionals advertise services and receive proposals–
Academy of Work (CV, documents, interviews, courses)plannedTraining, quizzes, interview simulator, document checklists, certificates of completion–
AI matching and career adviserplannedExplainable matching between professionals, employers and countries–

Compare

Compare this country with another

Coverage

PLATFORM Roadmap Source: AtiveSite · Data: 06/11/2026

Norway is the model country: every layer below that is marked done for Norway will be repeated for Ireland.

Sort:
Layer ⇅Status ⇅Source ⇅
Global indicators (economy, quality of life)doneWorld Bank
Largest cities and mapdoneGeoNames
Minimum-wage systemdoneeditorial, verify
Official links (immigration, labour, statistics, jobs)doneverified links
Wages by occupationplannednational statistics office
Jobs by industry, city and countyplannednational statistics office
Commuting flowsplannednational statistics office
Largest companiesplannedcompany register / Wikidata
Job niches and live adsplannedofficial job feed
Law and rights summaryplannedlabour authority
Unions and collective agreementsplanned–
Cost of living and net-pay calculatorplannedtax authority + statistics office

Sources

Jobs in other countries

🇺🇸 United States🇩🇪 Germany🇸🇪 Sweden🇸🇬 Singapore