Social Affairs

Discrimination is increasing, with more than one in five adults targeted recently

Instances of discrimination were most commonly encountered in the workplace, according to CSO data

The highest rates of discrimination were reported by people whose sexual orientation was gay or lesbian. Stock photograph: Getty Images
The highest rates of discrimination were reported by people whose sexual orientation was gay or lesbian. Stock photograph: Getty Images
Ella Sloane
Mon Jun 16 2025 - 15:56

More than one in five adults in Ireland have recently experienced some form of discrimination, according to data published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Figures from the CSO’s Equality and Discrimination Survey 2024 showed 22 per cent of 7,852 respondents said they had experienced discrimination in the two years before being interviewed. This represents an increase of four per cent from the last survey, which was carried out in the first quarter of 2019.

The most common places people experienced discrimination were in the workplace, reported by seven per cent, while the most common social settings were retail and hospitality, cited by one in 20 cases.

Race was the most common perceived ground for discrimination in social settings , at 33 per cent, with age also a significant factor at 15 per cent.

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Overall, the main grounds for discrimination in the workplace was race, at 27 per cent, followed by gender at 24 per cent and socio-economic background in third place, at 21 per cent.

The most common form of workplace discrimination was bullying or harassment, reported by more than one-third of people.

Eighteen per cent of people who experienced discrimination said they had a good knowledge of their rights. By far the most common action taken in response was verbal, with 16 per cent of respondents taking such action by bringing the issues concerned to a manager, a service provider or support organisation. One per cent took legal action.

Overall, the highest rates of discrimination were reported by people whose sexual orientation was gay or lesbian, at 59 per cent, or bisexual, at 55 per cent.

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Nearly half (46 per cent) of people who identified as transgender or non-binary had experienced discrimination of some form in the previous two years, double the prevalence among those who were cisgender, at 23 per cent.

Half of people of “Black Irish”, “Black African” or “other Black background” had experienced discrimination, compared with just one in five people whose ethnicity was identified as “White Irish”.

Members of the Irish Traveller and Roma community also experienced high levels of discrimination, at 42 per cent.