The State’s population rose by 78,300 last year; average weekly earnings surpassed €1,000 for the first time and house prices rose by another 7 per cent.
The Central Statistics Office’s Ireland 2025: The Year in Numbers neatly captures the two-tier nature of Ireland’s economy.
While goods exports soared to a record €228 billion between January and October, delivering another bumper year for the pharmaceutical industry, households remained under the kosh from elevated inflation and rising food prices in particular.
Would-be house buyers also saw their purchasing power shrink by a further 7.3 per cent.
Headline inflation was clocked at 3.2 per cent in the year to November, with food inflation measured at 5.1 per cent, the highest since December 2023.
The price of a kilo of sirloin steak was up by €5.06. The cost of several foods increased considerably last year, a factor that seems to be driving restaurant prices as well as household grocery bills.
In the first three quarters of 2025, there were 24,325 new dwelling completions, which was an increase of 13 per cent on the same period in 2024.
While the end-of-year total is expected to mark an improvement on last year’s disappointing 30,000-plus units, it won’t be anywhere near the Government’s 50,000 target.
The latter is perhaps the biggest reason why the median price of a home purchased in the 12 months to October was €381,000, compared with €350,000 in October 2024.
Dublin had the highest median price for each of the first 10 months of the year, reaching €495,000 in October while Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown was the most expensive area with a median price of €675,000.
While housing pressures remain, other parts of the economy are changing. Almost six in 10 (57 per cent) of all new private cars licensed up to November were electric, plug-in hybrid or hybrid.
As of the third quarter, average weekly earnings were €1,004, up by 44.9 per cent when compared with 10 years earlier in the third quarter in 2015, the CSO said.
While positive, this is partially a reflection of wages in the multinational sector. Those working in the information and communication sector had the highest average weekly earnings.