Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO) published its "Ireland 2023: The Year in Numbers" report on January 3, providing insight into the country's employment, inflation, housing, and population change.

Ireland's employment rate rose to its highest level in more than 25 years in 2023, according to the report.

The report, which provides a glimpse at the information published by the CSO throughout the course of the year, noted that Ireland's employment rate hit 74.2% in Q2 of 2023, the highest rate since the series began 25 years ago. 

The employment rate, which measures the working-age population aged between 15 and 64, dipped slightly to 74.1% in Q3. 

The report additionally stated that 130,000 people were unemployed in Q3, giving Ireland an unemployment rate of 4.6%. 

Average weekly earnings stood at €907.72 in Q3 of 2023, up almost 33% when compared with the average weekly earnings of €682.79 recorded in Q3 of 2013. 

The sectors with the highest average wages in Q3 of 2023 were information and communication, followed by the financial, insurance, and real estate sectors. 

Almost 75% of the top 1% of earners were male, while just over 70% of the top 10% of earners were male. 

Elsewhere, the CSO's Year in Numbers report found that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was at 3.9% in November 2023.

The CPI, which is the official measure of inflation in Ireland, was at its lowest rate in 25 months, according to the CSO report.

The CSO said inflation was above 7% for 12 straight months between April 2022 and April 2023, peaking at 9.2% in October 2022. 

Evaluating the Average National Prices of staple items in November 2023, the CSO said the cost of a 2.5kg bag of potatoes rose by 30c when compared with November 2022, while a kilogram of cheese rose by 21c over the same period. Meanwhile, the average price of milk and butter fell by 6c and 5c respectively between November 2022 and November 2023. 

Meanwhile, the median price for a dwelling in Ireland steadily increased throughout the year, jumping from €305,000 in January to €323,000 in October, the latest month for which data is available. 

Almost half (45%) of the new cars registered in Ireland between January and October 2023 were electric, plug-in hybrid, or hybrid, the CSO said. 

The "Year in Numbers" report also reflected on the release of the 2022 Census results, which showed that Ireland's population exceeded five million people for the first time in 171 years.

Ireland's population increased by 8% compared with the Census in 2016, while it was 83% higher than its lowest point in 1961 when just over 2.8 million people lived in Ireland. 

The CSO also revealed that Jack was the most popular name for newborn boys and Emily was the most popular name for newborn girls in Ireland in 2022.

Murphy remained the most popular surname for newborn babies in 2022.