Cork ranked fifth in income levels

A Cork economist foresees a continued drop in income, as figures relating to average wages from 2000 to 2009 were released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) yesterday, Thursday. The report showed that coming into the millennium, estimates of total income per person in Cork stood at €16,799, rising approximately by €1,000 every year to €27,954 in 2008. However, the following year witnessed the first drop, with incomes plummeting by 7% to €25,799.

Lecturer in Economics at the University of College Cork, Justin Doran predicted that with the current economic climate and the unemployment figure standing at 14.3%, the average wage across the country will also drop further from 2009 to 2011. “The steady rise showed what has happening in the economy at the time. As there were more people working- especially in the construction industry- the average was kept quite high. However, that wasn’t a sustainable industry,” he said. Cork was ranked fifth overall in the figures, with Dublin having the most cash to spend, followed by the commuter belts of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.