Live Register — every county ranked
Higher figures on this page are generally worse, not the opposite.
Figures as of July 2026, published by CSO PxStat. Accessed 2026-08-28.
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 | 51,932 | +6.0% |
| 2 | Cork | 16,121 | +4.1% |
| 3 | Galway | 8,609 | +0.2% |
| 4 | Louth | 8,009 | +1.7% |
| 5 | Wexford | 7,927 | +7.2% |
| 6 | Donegal | 7,804 | -2.9% |
| 7 | Limerick | 7,671 | +4.2% |
| 8 | Kildare | 7,500 | +3.3% |
| 9 | Tipperary | 6,318 | +1.0% |
| 10 | Waterford | 6,136 | +6.1% |
| 11 | Kerry | 5,725 | -2.6% |
| 12 | Mayo | 5,616 | -1.8% |
| 13 | Wicklow | 5,313 | +0.8% |
| 14 | Meath | 4,278 | +2.7% |
| 15 | Westmeath | 4,050 | +1.5% |
| 16 | Clare | 3,856 | -4.0% |
| 17 | Offaly | 3,563 | +1.8% |
| 18 | Laois | 3,500 | +1.3% |
| 19 | Carlow | 3,127 | +1.0% |
| 20 | Cavan | 2,860 | +2.7% |
| 21 | Kilkenny | 2,541 | +2.0% |
| 22 | Sligo | 2,357 | +1.2% |
| 23 | Longford | 2,293 | +6.2% |
| 24 | Roscommon | 2,162 | -0.6% |
| 25 | Monaghan | 2,093 | -4.1% |
| 26 | Leitrim | 1,629 | -2.0% |
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.