Dubliners have more disposable income, figures show

The disposable income of Dubliners is 12

The disposable income of Dubliners is 12.3 per cent above the State average while the disposable income per person in the Midlands is 9.4 per cent below the average, according to figures released today.

According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Dubliners had €23,226 at their disposal in 2006, while in the Midland counties of Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath, the figure was only €18,730.

In Dublin’s commuter counties of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, disposable income per person was €21,211.

Disposable income per person in the Border counties of Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan and Sligo was €18,848 with Co Donegal reporting the lowest figure in that region of €17,252.

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In the West, personal disposable income was an average €19,239 in Counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon.

In Counties Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary, disposable income per person was €20,050, while in the South East (Counties Carlow, Kilkenny, South Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford) the figure was €19,265.

In the Southwest – Counties Cork and Kerry – disposable income per person was €19,943. The average across the state was €20,678.

The CSO data divides the State in two between the Border, Midlands and Western region, where disposable income per person was 8.3 per cent below the State average and the Southern and Eastern region, which includes the Mid- and South West, where incomes were 3 per cent above the average.

Counties Dublin, Limerick, Kildare and Meath all had higher than average disposable incomes in 2006, while at the other end of the scale Counties Donegal, Leitrim, Laois, Offaly, Mayo, Roscommon, Carlow and Kerry all had disposable incomes per person below 90 per cent of the State average.

Disposable income per person increased by €6,965 between 2000 and 2006 in Dublin, while in the Border counties it increased by €6,625. In the Midlands disposable income per person increased by €6,328 between 2000 and 2006. In the West it increased by €6,290, in the Mid West by €6,429, the South East by €6,677 and by €6,728 in the South west between 2000 and 2006.

Patrick  Logue

Patrick Logue

Patrick Logue is Digital Editor of The Irish Times