Job Vacancies in Accommodation and Food Service Activities: CSO Figures to Q2 2026

The CSO's table EHQ59 gives 700 job vacancies in "Accommodation and Food Service Activities (I)" at the end of Q2 2026, with a job vacancy rate of 0.3%. For "All NACE Economic Sectors Excluding Activities A,U and V (B to T)" the table gives 30,000 vacancies and a rate of 1.3% in Q2 2026. The Q2 2026 figures are preliminary. The table does not say why any quarter is higher or lower than another, and it is not a count for cafés.

How many job vacancies were there in Accommodation and Food Service Activities in Q2 2026?

The CSO's table EHQ59 gives 700 job vacancies in "Accommodation and Food Service Activities (I)" at the end of Q2 2026. The same table gives 195,100 for "Employment" in that sector in Q2 2026.

For "All NACE Economic Sectors Excluding Activities A,U and V (B to T)" the table gives 30,000 job vacancies and "Employment" of 2,368,400 in Q2 2026. By our arithmetic, the sector had 2.3% of the job vacancies in "All NACE Economic Sectors Excluding Activities A,U and V (B to T)" (700 of 30,000) and 8.2% of "Employment" (195,100 of 2,368,400) in Q2 2026.

For comparison, the sector had 800 job vacancies in Q2 2025 and 900 in Q1 2026. The CSO's table carries this note: "Data for the latest quarter is preliminary and subject to revision." So the Q2 2026 figures can change.

The CSO's release says: "There were 30,000 job vacancies, (rounded to the nearest 100), at the end of Q2 2026". Table EHQ59 gives 30,000 for "All NACE Economic Sectors Excluding Activities A,U and V (B to T)" in Q2 2026; that match is our reading.

What is the job vacancy rate in the sector, and how does it compare with All NACE Economic Sectors Excluding Activities A,U and V (B to T)?

The job vacancy rate in "Accommodation and Food Service Activities (I)" was 0.3% in Q2 2026, against 1.3% for "All NACE Economic Sectors Excluding Activities A,U and V (B to T)" in the same quarter, according to the CSO's table EHQ59. The sector's rate was 0.5% in Q2 2025 and 0.5% in Q1 2026.

Of the rows in the table with figures for Q2 2026, the lowest rate was 0.3%, shared by "Accommodation and Food Service Activities (I)" and "Transportation and Storage (H)". The highest, in Q2 2026, was "Public Administration and Defence; Compulsory Social Security (P)" at 3.9%.

The sector's rate was below the rate for "All NACE Economic Sectors Excluding Activities A,U and V (B to T)" in 30 of the 34 quarters from Q1 2018 to Q2 2026, which is our count. It was above that rate in Q1 2019, Q2 2019, Q2 2020 and Q3 2021. It was below that rate in every quarter from Q1 2022 to Q2 2026, also our count.

The CSO's Background Notes give the formula as: "Job Vacancy Rate = (Number of job vacancies / Number of occupied jobs + Number of job vacancies ) * 100". We quote it exactly as published. The Background Notes say the rate "measures the proportion of total posts that are vacant".

How has the job vacancy rate moved since 2018?

The table starts in Q1 2018, when the sector's rate was 0.6%. For "Accommodation and Food Service Activities (I)", the highest quarter in the table was Q1 2019, with 3,800 job vacancies and a rate of 2.0%.

The lowest rate for that sector in the table was 0.2%, in Q1 2020 and in Q3 2020. The sector had 300 job vacancies in Q1 2020 and 300 in Q3 2020.

From Q1 2023 to Q2 2026 the quarterly rates were 0.8, 0.6, 0.4 and 0.7 in Q1 to Q4 2023, 0.6, 0.6, 0.7 and 0.5 in Q1 to Q4 2024, 0.6, 0.5, 0.4 and 0.4 in Q1 to Q4 2025, and 0.5 and 0.3 in Q1 and Q2 2026. The table is below. We give dates and figures and no reason for any movement, because the table gives none.

The CSO's Background Notes add a caution: "Due to one off recruitments by individual firms and a low number of firms reporting vacancies, the job vacancies series can be volatile and should be interpreted with caution." For earnings, see our page on earnings in Accommodation and food service activities (I). For the wage floor, see our page on the minimum wage for café staff.

What does the CSO count as a job vacancy?

The CSO's Background Notes say: "A job vacancy is defined as a newly created post, an unoccupied post or post about to become vacant in the near future, where the employer is actively looking for (i.e. advertising, contacting employment agencies, etc.) and willing to recruit a suitable candidate immediately or very soon."

On timing, the Background Notes say: "Respondents are asked to provide the number of job vacancies in their firm as at the last working day of the quarter." We quote the CSO and do not widen its definition.

Where do these numbers come from?

They come from the CSO's table EHQ59, "Job Vacancies", from the Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey, updated 25 August 2026. We read it on 27 October 2026. We took the statistics "Employment", "Number of Job Vacancies" and "Job Vacancies" (the rate) for "Private or Public Sector" set to "All sectors", for "Accommodation and Food Service Activities (I)" and for "All NACE Economic Sectors Excluding Activities A,U and V (B to T)", from Q1 2018 to Q2 2026.

The table's release is the CSO's "Earnings and Labour Costs Q1 2026 (Final) Q2 2026 (Preliminary Estimates)". The table notes say: "Users should note that this release is using the new NACE Rev.2.1 classification system." We use the table's sector labels as they are and make no comparison with any table that uses NACE Rev 2.

You can download our extract as a CSV. If you cite it: Cupán Studio, from CSO table EHQ59, read 27 October 2026.

Job vacancies and job vacancy rate by quarter, Q1 2023 to Q2 2026, CSO table EHQ59. Q2 2026 is preliminary.

Quarter	Accommodation and Food Service Activities (I), job vacancies	Accommodation and Food Service Activities (I), rate %	All NACE Economic Sectors Excluding Activities A,U and V (B to T), rate %
Q1 2023	1,400	0.8	1.5
Q2 2023	1,200	0.6	1.3
Q3 2023	700	0.4	1.2
Q4 2023	1,300	0.7	1.2
Q1 2024	1,000	0.6	1.2
Q2 2024	1,100	0.6	1.3
Q3 2024	1,400	0.7	1.2
Q4 2024	900	0.5	1.2
Q1 2025	1,100	0.6	1.3
Q2 2025	800	0.5	1.3
Q3 2025	800	0.4	1.4
Q4 2025	700	0.4	1.2
Q1 2026	900	0.5	1.2
Q2 2026	700	0.3	1.3

Sources

• Central Statistics Office, table EHQ59, Job Vacancies, updated 25 August 2026, read 27 October 2026.
• Central Statistics Office, Earnings and Labour Costs Q1 2026 (Final) Q2 2026 (Preliminary Estimates), read 27 October 2026.
• Central Statistics Office, Background Notes, Earnings and Labour Costs Q1 2026 (Final) Q2 2026 (Preliminary Estimates), read 27 October 2026.

Figures from CSO table EHQ59, read 27 October 2026; shares and counts of quarters are ours. A summary of published statistics, not advice. Cupán Studio builds websites for cafés in Ireland.