Number of public paid employees in Ireland

Ireland: Number of public paid employees was 1,240 in 2020. ▼ Falling

Latest (2020)
1,240
Change on year
up 4.0%
World rank
69th
of 80 countries
All-time high
1,402
in 2005
All-time low
976
in 2011
Years of data
17
2004–2020

Number of public paid employees in Ireland, 2004–2020

05001.0k1.5k2004201220202004: 1.3k2005: 1.4k2006: 1.4k2007: 1.4k2008: 1.2k2009: 1.2k2010: 1.0k2011: 9762012: 1.0k2013: 1.1k2014: 1.4k2015: 1.3k2016: 1.3k2017: 1.3k2018: 1.2k2019: 1.2k2020: 1.2k

Source: World Bank.

Analysis

The most recent figure for number of public paid employees in Ireland is 1,240, measured in 2020.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.0% on the previous year and up 21.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of public paid employees in Ireland peaked at 1,402 in 2005 and was at its lowest, 976, in 2011.

Ireland ranks 69th of 80 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 17 years of available data.

Number of public paid employees in Ireland, year by year

Annual values for Number of public paid employees in Ireland, 2004 to 2020.
Year Value Change
2004 1,279
2005 1,402 +9.6%
2006 1,391 -0.8%
2007 1,358 -2.4%
2008 1,247 -8.2%
2009 1,192 -4.4%
2010 1,024 -14.1%
2011 976 -4.7%
2012 1,041 +6.7%
2013 1,150 +10.5%
2014 1,371 +19.2%
2015 1,333 -2.8%
2016 1,288 -3.4%
2017 1,292 +0.3%
2018 1,170 -9.4%
2019 1,192 +1.9%
2020 1,240 +4.0%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 1,312 1,192 1,402 6
2010s 1,184 976 1,371 10
2020s 1,240 1,240 1,240 1

Countries ranked near Ireland

  1. 66 Croatia 1,281 compare
  2. 67 Iceland 1,276 compare
  3. 68 Albania 1,270 compare
  4. 70 Cameroon 1,234 compare
  5. 71 Malta 1,208 compare
  6. 72 Rwanda 1,203 compare

See the full ranking of 80 places →

More reference data data for Ireland

All data for Ireland →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of public paid employees in Ireland?
Number of public paid employees in Ireland was 1,240 in 2020, according to the World Bank.
What is the highest number of public paid employees recorded in Ireland?
The highest recorded value was 1,402 in 2005.
What is the lowest number of public paid employees recorded in Ireland?
The lowest recorded value was 976 in 2011.
How does Ireland rank for number of public paid employees?
Ireland ranks 69th out of 80 countries with data for 2020.
Is number of public paid employees rising or falling in Ireland?
Over the last ten years it is up 21.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Ireland data come from?
The figures come from the World Bank, published as part of Number of public paid employees. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Number of public paid employees in Ireland. Statizoid. Retrieved 22 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/number-of-public-paid-employees/ireland/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/number-of-public-paid-employees/ireland/">Number of public paid employees in Ireland</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Number of public paid employees
Source
World Bank
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
80 places, 1,013 data points, 2000–2022
Last refreshed