Ireland
IE desk: Ireland first; euro area, United Kingdom and United States alongside.
−0.17 pp
As of 2025 | % of population ages 15+
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 64.84% |
| 2024 | 65.01% |
| 2023 | 66.18% |
| 2022 | 64.44% |
| 2021 | 63.55% |
| 2020 | 61.09% |
| 2019 | 62.31% |
| 2018 | 62.14% |
| 2017 | 61.92% |
| 2016 | 62.12% |
| 2015 | 61.78% |
| 2014 | 61.70% |
| 2013 | 61.91% |
| 2012 | 61.59% |
| 2011 | 61.93% |
| 2010 | 62.60% |
| 2009 | 64.08% |
| 2008 | 65.94% |
| 2007 | 66.62% |
| 2006 | 66.09% |
| 2005 | 65.67% |
| 2004 | 64.36% |
| 2003 | 64.31% |
| 2002 | 64.43% |
Labour force participation is the share of people ages 15 and over who are employed or unemployed (SL.TLF.CACT.ZS). It is not the unemployment rate. Latest: 64.84% in 2025.
A falling unemployment rate can coincide with people leaving the labour force. This series is the usual check. From 1990 to 2025 (36 years): mean 63.14%, median 62.76%; low 60.18% (1992), high 66.62% (2007).
Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).
This series is the labour-force participation rate for people aged 15 and over: the share who are either employed or unemployed and looking for work. The source is World Bank Open Data indicator SL.TLF.CACT.ZS, an ILO modelled estimate. It measures who is in the labour market, not what they earn, and it is not the same as the employment ratio: unemployed people count in the numerator here but not there.
Participation reflects retirement ages, education, caring responsibilities and social norms as well as job availability, so levels differ for reasons that have little to do with the unemployment rate. The series is modelled from national surveys and censuses and is revised periodically. Use the chart and range buttons to follow one economy and the ranked ledger to compare latest published years. Treat small cross-country gaps with caution, because the estimate carries uncertainty where survey coverage is thin. A fall can mean people left the labour force rather than lost work, so read it with the unemployment rate.
The Ireland desk places Ireland first and shows the euro area, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and France alongside it, as far as each source publishes them. It republishes the same World Bank ILO modelled estimates as the all-countries pages, filtered to this desk; the build does not recompute anything. Taiwan is shown only on the headline unemployment page, where the rate is filled from the IMF World Economic Outlook because the World Bank does not publish it.
Move between desks with the Country selector, read the same numbers through the Chart and Table tabs, and shorten the period with the range buttons. Every page prints its indicator, source and licence. Ireland’s figures are national series in the World Bank collection, separate from the euro-area aggregate shown beside them. Where the source does not publish an Irish value, the related economies are shown.