Live Register: 25 years and over — every county ranked
Rank by year-on-year change instead
Live Register: Under 25 years
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 2026-10-31.
Colour shows the 12-month change in Live Register claimants, published by CSO for each county.
| Rank | County | Live Register: 25 years and over | Year on year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dublin | 42,755 | +5.3% |
| 2 | Cork | 12,169 | +3.3% |
| 3 | Galway | 6,531 | -3.7% |
| 4 | Louth | 6,265 | +1.6% |
| 5 | Donegal | 5,992 | -8.3% |
| 6 | Kildare | 5,831 | +1.3% |
| 7 | Limerick | 5,737 | -0.8% |
| 8 | Wexford | 5,704 | -2.0% |
| 9 | Waterford | 4,602 | +1.2% |
| 10 | Tipperary | 4,551 | -1.5% |
| 11 | Mayo | 4,379 | -2.7% |
| 12 | Kerry | 4,356 | -8.3% |
| 13 | Wicklow | 4,145 | +1.0% |
| 14 | Meath | 3,234 | -0.6% |
| 15 | Westmeath | 3,045 | -1.7% |
| 16 | Clare | 2,934 | -4.7% |
| 17 | Laois | 2,590 | -0.5% |
| 18 | Offaly | 2,543 | -1.9% |
| 19 | Carlow | 2,234 | -2.0% |
| 20 | Cavan | 2,119 | +0.3% |
| 21 | Kilkenny | 1,841 | -3.7% |
| 22 | Sligo | 1,837 | -4.9% |
| 23 | Longford | 1,704 | +3.0% |
| 24 | Roscommon | 1,608 | -3.9% |
| 25 | Monaghan | 1,413 | -13.4% |
| 26 | Leitrim | 1,281 | -7.3% |
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: 25 years and over, 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 31 Oct 2026. Source: CSO PxStat https://statsmapped.com/ireland/rankings/live-register?facet=25-plus
Download this table: CSV JSON — 600 requests/hour, no key needed.