Live Register — every county ranked
Higher figures on this page are generally worse, not the opposite.
These are raw counts, not rates — a larger area ranks higher on this page mainly because it has more people, not necessarily a worse underlying rate.
Figures as of September 2026, published by CSO PxStat. Accessed 2026-10-12.
Colour shows the 12-month change in Live Register claimants, published by CSO for each county.
| Rank | County | Live Register | Year on year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dublin | 48,940 | +5.4% |
| 2 | Cork | 13,664 | +3.1% |
| 3 | Galway | 7,337 | -2.8% |
| 4 | Louth | 7,233 | +3.1% |
| 5 | Donegal | 6,785 | -6.9% |
| 6 | Kildare | 6,663 | +1.3% |
| 7 | Limerick | 6,598 | -0.3% |
| 8 | Wexford | 6,520 | -1.0% |
| 9 | Waterford | 5,349 | +3.0% |
| 10 | Tipperary | 5,284 | -0.7% |
| 11 | Kerry | 4,870 | -7.2% |
| 12 | Mayo | 4,861 | -3.2% |
| 13 | Wicklow | 4,688 | +2.7% |
| 14 | Meath | 3,692 | +0.2% |
| 15 | Westmeath | 3,502 | -1.8% |
| 16 | Clare | 3,361 | -3.9% |
| 17 | Laois | 3,032 | -0.2% |
| 18 | Offaly | 2,937 | -1.7% |
| 19 | Carlow | 2,603 | -1.7% |
| 20 | Cavan | 2,448 | +1.4% |
| 21 | Sligo | 2,120 | -3.8% |
| 22 | Kilkenny | 2,100 | -1.8% |
| 23 | Longford | 2,042 | +3.5% |
| 24 | Roscommon | 1,855 | -2.5% |
| 25 | Monaghan | 1,635 | -10.9% |
| 26 | Leitrim | 1,436 | -5.3% |
Before you use these figures
- Not a measure of unemployment: The Live Register is a count of people claiming certain social welfare payments, not a count of unemployed people. It includes part-time, seasonal and casual workers who are entitled to benefit, and excludes people who are unemployed but not claiming. CSO's measure of unemployment is the Monthly Unemployment Estimate, which is a different figure.
- Counted where the office is, not where the person lives: Claimants are counted at the social welfare office they sign on at, which is not always in the county they live in. Counties whose residents commonly claim across a boundary can therefore read a little high or low.
- Seasonal — compare year on year: The register rises when school and college leavers sign on and falls again as they find work, so month-to-month movement largely tracks the season. Only year-on-year change is flagged for these series.
Cite this ranking:
Live Register, every county ranked Caveats: Not a measure of unemployment; Counted where the office is, not where the person lives; Seasonal — compare year on year StatsMapped last confirmed these figures unchanged on 11 Oct 2026. Source: CSO PxStat https://statsmapped.com/ireland/rankings/live-register
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