Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Ireland
Ireland: Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median was 7.3% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Ireland, 1987–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Ireland is 7.3%, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of up 4.1% on the previous year and down 36.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Ireland peaked at 13.8% in 1987 and was at its lowest, 6.2%, in 2020.
Ireland ranks 104th of 120 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 27 years of available data.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Ireland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 13.8% | — |
| 1994 | 12.5% | -9.4% |
| 1995 | 11.7% | -6.4% |
| 1996 | 12.2% | +4.3% |
| 2000 | 10.9% | -10.7% |
| 2002 | 11.4% | +4.6% |
| 2003 | 11.3% | -0.8% |
| 2004 | 12.1% | +7.4% |
| 2005 | 9.9% | -18.3% |
| 2006 | 9.5% | -4.2% |
| 2007 | 8.5% | -11.0% |
| 2008 | 8.8% | +4.1% |
| 2009 | 10.3% | +16.6% |
| 2010 | 10.6% | +3.4% |
| 2011 | 11.5% | +8.1% |
| 2012 | 11.0% | -3.9% |
| 2013 | 11.4% | +3.7% |
| 2014 | 9.4% | -17.6% |
| 2015 | 9.8% | +4.2% |
| 2016 | 8.8% | -10.1% |
| 2017 | 8.4% | -4.9% |
| 2018 | 7.1% | -15.4% |
| 2019 | 6.9% | -2.9% |
| 2020 | 6.2% | -9.6% |
| 2021 | 6.5% | +3.5% |
| 2022 | 7.0% | +9.1% |
| 2023 | 7.3% | +4.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 13.8% | 13.8% | 13.8% | 1 |
| 1990s | 12.1% | 11.7% | 12.5% | 3 |
| 2000s | 10.3% | 8.5% | 12.1% | 9 |
| 2010s | 9.5% | 6.9% | 11.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.8% | 6.2% | 7.3% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More poverty & inequality data for Ireland
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 8 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.6 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 7,325 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 3.71 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 21.9 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 21.9% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Ireland?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Ireland was 7.3% in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 13.8% in 1987.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.2% in 2020.
- How does Ireland rank for relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median?
- Ireland ranks 104th out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 36.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ireland data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 27 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below 50% of the median.