Disposal income in Louth below national average

THE average disposable income for people in County Louth is just over €17,500, according to new figures released by the CSO.

The figures for 2014 show that the disposable income for each individual in Louth was €17,626, quite a way below the national average of €19,178.

This was a rise of just over €300 from the previous year, when the disposable income per person in Louth was €17,282.

The County Incomes and Regional GDP report, shows a steep decline in the disposable income enjoyed by people in Louth during the boom and the current figure is more than €5,000 less than it was during 2008.

After rising during 2006 (€20,064), 2007 (€21,359) and 2008 (€22,677), the amount of spare cash people had to spend began to decline as the recession took hold, dropping to €21,043 in 2009, €19,255 in 2010 and €17,776 in 2011.

It has remained around this figure, rising and falling by €200-€300 ever since.

The report also shows that the average income in the county has dropped by almost 5,000, from a high of €27,416 in 2008 to €22,512 in 2014.

Similarly to the figures for disposable income, the report shows that incomes rose steadily from 2006 (€25,089) to 2007 (€26,613) and 2008 (€27,416) before starting to decline in 2009 (€25,581), 2010 (€23,388) and 2011 (€22,369).

Estimates of disposable income minus rent for those living in Louth in 2014 was €16,155 compared to €19,287 in 2006.

Of the eight regional authority areas, the Dublin region had the highest average disposable income per person in 2014. At €21,963 it was 14.5% higher than the State figure of €19,178 and approximately 5.5% higher than the figure of €20,834 for 2013.

Dublin, Limerick, Kildare and Cork are the only counties where per capita disposable income exceeded the state average in 2014.