On the 11th March the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published the Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2025. It is the official source of data on household and individual income and provides key national indicators on poverty, deprivation, and income inequality.
Key Points in the 2025 results include:
- The rate of consistent poverty for people in unemployment has doubled in 2 years and is 9 times higher than the 2% national poverty target set by Government.
- Almost half of people who are unemployed are experiencing enforced deprivation, where they have the inability to afford the goods or services necessary for an acceptable standard of living.
- Once housing expenses (rent/ mortgage interest) are deducted, almost 1 in 5 people in Ireland are at risk of poverty.
- Government policy to address poverty is proving ineffective, and targeted measures must be introduced to address this societal issue.
The INOU consistently highlights the slow progress being made to address increasing rates of poverty in Ireland, and the disproportionate rates seen with people experiencing unemployment, where almost 1 in 5 are living in consistent poverty. State policy, such as measures in the national “Roadmap to Social Inclusion” are not proving effective in addressing this societal issue.
The INOU, alongside others, will continue to call for the benchmarking of social welfare rates to lift people out of poverty, and ensure people can have enough to achieve the minimum essential standard of living.
At Risk of Poverty Rate
An individual is defined as being at risk of poverty if their nominal equivalised disposable income is under the at risk of poverty threshold, i.e. 60% of the median nominal equivalised disposable income. The poverty threshold for 2025 is €19,060.
In 2025 the at risk of poverty rate increased by 0.9 percentage points to 12.6%. If the cost-of-living measures were excluded from this figure, the at risk of poverty rate would have increased over the year to 14.9%. Once deducting rent and mortgage interest, the AROP rate increases again to 19.7%, showing housing (including social housing) as a significant driver for poverty risk in Ireland.
Under Principle Economic Status, the at risk of poverty rate for people who identified themselves as unemployed was much higher at 29.3%, a decrease of 4.8 percentage points over the year. Their risk of poverty rate increases to 44.2% after deducting rent and mortgage interest from incomes.
Enforced Deprivation Rate
Enforced deprivation refers to the inability to afford goods, services, or activities that are considered necessary for an acceptable standard of living. This measure captures people in the population who cannot afford at least two of the items / activities contained in a list of eleven.
The enforced deprivation rate for 2025 was 15.1%, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points. Again, this rate was higher for unemployed people, at 42.1%, an increase of 4.3 ppts since 2024.
Consistent Poverty Rate
The consistent poverty rate, which captures people who are at risk of poverty and experience deprivation, decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 4.7%. The consistent poverty rate for people who identified as unemployed is 18.1%, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points over the year.
The consistent poverty rate for people who are unemployed remains unacceptably high. The rate of consistent poverty in the group has doubled in 2 years and is 9 times higher than the 2% national poverty target set by Government.
Amongst the other groups whose consistent poverty rates were greater than the national figure are: people unable to work due to long-standing health problems (13.9%); households with one adult aged under 65 years (8.2%); households with one adult with children aged under 18 years (13.4%); and people whose tenure status was rented or rent free (12.2%).