Longford has the lowest level of disposable income says CSO Report

Longford people have the lowest level of disposable income -or money to spend after paying their income taxes -compared to any other county in the country.

The latest Central Statistics Office report assessed the amount of money residents in regions across the country have available per person to spend after receiving social benefits and paying tax.

A breakdown of counties and income levels in Ireland found the average amount accrued in county Longford was just €22,251 per person in 2023, the lowest nationally.

In contrast, Dubliners had a much larger disposable income of €32,393 during the same period, while householders in Cork and Limerick had €29,876 and €29,491 respectively.

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The national average disposable income per person was €28,370 in 2023.
Other counties with similar disposable income levels to Longford were Laois (€22,257) and Donegal (€23,271).

The research also outlined that the Midlands and border counties including Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, “consistently remain significantly below the national average for household disposable income”.

CSO statistician Aoife Crowe said disposable income in Dublint equated to €49 billion of the total in Ireland, an increase of 12.6% from 2022.

“The Midlands region – Laois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath – continued to have the lowest levels of disposable income,” Ms Crowe said.

The report outlined the Midlands region – Laois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath were “largely dependent” on the public administration sector to generate wealth and employment.

“The income of this region accounted for €7.9 billion overall and was 15.8% below the national average per person,” Ms Crowe added.

Ms Crowe said the region was well below high performing areas like Dublin (€32,393), Cork (€29,876) and Limerick (€29,491).