Professional, scientific and technical
32,479 active companies in professional, scientific and technical. 4,511 registered in the last 12 months.
Active companies
32,479
Ireland: 323,801
Median filing delay
248 days
Ireland: 273 days
Annual returns overdue
11.9%
Ireland: 11.5%
Foreign parent
13
of 671 with an LEI
New companies per year 0 2k 4k 6k 2011: 4 4 2011 2012: 5 5 2012 2013: 5 5 2013 2014: 6 6 2014 2015: 1.6k 1.6k 2015 2016: 3.5k 3.5k 2016 2017: 3.6k 3.6k 2017 2018: 3.7k 3.7k 2018 2019: 4.1k 4.1k 2019 2020: 3.6k 3.6k 2020 2021: 3.8k 3.8k 2021 2022: 3.3k 3.3k 2022 2023: 3.7k 3.7k 2023 2024: 3.8k 3.8k 2024 2025: 4k 4k 2025 2026: 3.9k 3.9k 2026 Sector economy
Official statistics for professional, scientific and technical: business surveys (European Commission) and the CSO. A tag shows when the CSO only publishes the figure for a wider group.
Irish services confidence
+24.8
51st percentile since 2005 · EU +6.0 · Oct 2026
People employed
189,500
– on a year · 2026 Q2
Average weekly earnings
€1,295
+5.4% on a year · Ireland €1,047
Services output volume
+7.0%
3 months to Aug 2026 vs a year earlier
Job vacancy rate
2.6%
Ireland 1.3% · 2026 Q2
Enterprises (CSO)
54,634
10.8% new in 2024 · 4.2 people each on average
Still trading after 5 years
53.2%
of firms born 2019 · all sectors 53.2%
-100 -50 0 50 100 Nov 2016 Nov 2018 Nov 2020 Nov 2022 Nov 2024 Oct 2026 25 6 Confidence indicators are balances: % of firms reporting improvement minus % reporting deterioration, seasonally adjusted; services confidence combines business situation, past demand and expected demand. Ireland's figures by activity stop in Jan 2023; the Commission still publishes Ireland's sector-wide indicators.
Sources: European Commission, Business and Consumer Surveys ; CSO BRA31 , BRA36 , BRA34 , EHQ15 , EHQ03 , EHQ16 , QES01 , MIM05 , RSM08 , MSI03 , WPM35 , SPP10 , AIA30 , ANA09 , BAA14 , TEC02 , JCQ01 , EINO09 , BPA36 , DEA07 , CIRGDP04 (CC BY 4.0).
All measures
Ranked against the other sectors (1st = highest value). Hover a card for the definition. Compare in the sector explorer .
Company base
Active companies
32,479
1st of 21 sectors
New companies, 12 months
4,511
1st of 21 sectors
Formation rate
13.9%
8th of 21 sectors
Dissolution rate
5.2%
10th of 21 sectors
Net formation rate
8.7%
8th of 21 sectors
In liquidation or strike-off
4.6%
13th of 21 sectors
Filing behaviour
Median filing delay
248 days
19th of 21 sectors
Accounts filed late
3.7%
16th of 21 sectors
Annual return overdue
11.9%
17th of 21 sectors
Filings on time (3 years)
95.4%
5th of 21 sectors
Filing discipline score
82.0
9th of 21 sectors
December year end
56.2%
17th of 21 sectors
Changed year end
2.9%
7th of 21 sectors
Structure
Limited by guarantee (CLG)
1.0%
12th of 21 sectors
Designated activity (DAC)
0.4%
12th of 21 sectors
Unlimited companies
0.8%
5th of 21 sectors
At a mass registered address
13.7%
8th of 21 sectors
Registered in Dublin
41.6%
8th of 21 sectors
County concentration (HHI)
2,029
8th of 21 sectors
Have an LEI
2.1%
5th of 21 sectors
Foreign parent (LEI data)
0.0%
9th of 21 sectors
Links
Employment permits per 1,000 companies
50.5
9th of 21 sectors
Public contracts won
€1,250m
3rd of 18 sectors
Companies with public contracts
1.5%
3rd of 21 sectors
Enforcement notices per 1,000
0.1
5th of 21 sectors
Sector P&L (CSO)
Sector turnover
€87.2bn
4th of 15 sectors
Turnover growth
+38.9%
4th of 11 sectors
Turnover per enterprise
€1.7m
8th of 15 sectors
Turnover per person
€416,469
5th of 15 sectors
Value added per person
€128,790
6th of 15 sectors
Value added margin
30.9%
9th of 14 sectors
Operating surplus margin
17.3%
8th of 14 sectors
Labour share of value added
44.0%
8th of 14 sectors
Labour cost per employee
€64,690
3rd of 15 sectors
Purchases / turnover
42.9%
12th of 14 sectors
Stock days
23 days
5th of 13 sectors
Capital spending / turnover
2.3%
10th of 10 sectors
People per enterprise
4.1
12th of 15 sectors
Labour (CSO)
People employed
189,500
4th of 20 sectors
Average weekly earnings
€1,295
3rd of 16 sectors
Earnings growth
+5.4%
3rd of 16 sectors
Job vacancy rate
2.6%
2nd of 10 sectors
Hiring rate
10.3%
6th of 11 sectors
Separation rate
9.8%
6th of 11 sectors
Employment in foreign-owned firms
26.3%
4th of 6 sectors
Enterprise demography (CSO)
Enterprises (CSO)
54,634
2nd of 16 sectors
Enterprise birth rate
10.8%
8th of 16 sectors
Five-year survival
53.2%
3rd of 15 sectors
Companies per 100 enterprises
59.0
5th of 16 sectors
Trade and investment (CSO)
Goods exports
€1.7bn
6th of 13 sectors
Goods-exporting enterprises
820
3rd of 13 sectors
Momentum (CSO)
Output growth
+7.0%
3rd of 7 sectors
Sub-sectors
Activity Companies New (12m) Median filing delay Returns overdue Employed (CSO) Weekly earnings EU confidence
Head offices and management consultancy 15,405 2,385 244 days 12.4%
15,800 €1,562 +11.7 Other professional services 6,996 628 254 days 12.2%
21,500 – +5.1 Architecture and engineering 5,324 789 247 days 9.0%
43,200 €1,178 +6.7 Legal and accounting 2,302 279 253 days 10.6%
73,800 €1,193 +15.5 Advertising and market research 1,367 255 251 days 18.7%
15,900 – +8.1 Scientific R&D 642 126 274 days 13.4%
12,500 – +5.0 Veterinary 443 49 274 days 7.7%
6,800 – –
Employment and earnings shown only where the CSO publishes the activity on its own. EU confidence: balance, latest month.
Newest companies
Source: CRO open data. Sector from the company's declared NACE code; county from its registered office.
CRO records an activity code (NACE) for 64.0% of active companies (99.2% of those under 5 years old, 99.5% of those 5 to 10 years old, 12.0% of those over 10 years old), so company counts by sector cover the coded companies, which skew young.