Average disposable income in the Dublin area is 16.8 per cent above the State average, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The figures, based on data from 2000, show average income in the southern and eastern regions as a whole is 3.6 per cent above the State average.
This contrasts sharply with average income in the border midland and western regions - which was found to be 10.1 per cent below the average. The gap of 13.7 points between the two regions represents a small decrease on the gap of 14.5 points in 1999.
The Dublin figure was slightly lower than in 1999, when it was more than 17 per cent above the average.
The Dublin region had the highest disposable income per person of the eight regional authority areas.
The disposable income per person of the Midland region was 14.2 per cent below the State average in 2000 and was the lowest of the eight regional authority areas.
In 1999, the average for this region was 15.6 per cent below the level for the State.
The CSO said counties other than Dublin with high levels of disposable income per person included Kildare with 105.2 per cent of the State average and Limerick with 102.6 per cent.
However, Galway was found to have 99.1 per cent of the State average while Waterford had 97.4 per cent and Cork had 97.2 per cent.
