Eight things we learned about Ireland from Census 2022

Eight things we learned about Ireland from Census 2022

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With the publication of the final Census 2022 data earlier this week, we now have a full reflection on what Ireland looks like.

The census, which happens once every five years, is a key tool for thousands of businesses and even the Government, as it informs them of what the country is made up of in terms of demographics.

Here, we take a look back at eight important pieces of information that we now know because of the census.

Ireland is getting bigger 

There are more people in Ireland now than at any point since after the Famine — with the population growing to 5,149,139 in Census 2022.

An extra 17,218 people live in Cork since the previous Census in 2016. That growth has meant there will be an expanded Dáíl after the next election, among other things.

The number of non-Irish citizens increased in 2022, accounting for 12% of the population.

The biggest non-Irish groups were Polish and UK citizens followed by Indian, Romanian and Lithuanian, Brazilian, Italian, Latvian and Spanish citizens.

In the year preceding the census, 89,512 people moved to Ireland which represents approximately 2% of the usually resident population — with India and Brazil leading the way.

We’re getting older 

The average age in Ireland in 2022 was 38.8 years old.

Some 14 towns in nine counties had an average age of 39 or higher — including Killarney and Tralee in Kerry.

Balbriggan (33.6), Ratoath (33.7) and Ashbourne (33.9) are the youngest towns on the island, while Louth contains both of the biggest towns in Drogheda (44,135) and Dundalk (43,112)

It’s official: Rents are skyrocketing 

The average weekly rent in Ireland rose by 37% to €273 — with some parts of the country even seeing an average of €442.

Even the cheapest monthly rent was more than €500 and that’s before you even bring in household bills and other expenses.

Over 52,000 households pay a weekly rent of €400 or more to private landlords. There were also rises in the number of people renting across all age groups.

Those aged 65 years and over saw an increase of 83% in the number of properties rented from a private landlord to nearly 17,000.

The average age at which people now become homeowners in Ireland is 36, while there was an increase of 10,002 in the number of families renting.

More adults are also living with their parents. According to the census, 522,486 adults were living with their parents — up 14% from 2016.

The highest areas were in South Dublin and Meath, though one-in-seven people in Cork were also living with their parents.

Almost a quarter of all 25- to 34-year-olds were living at home in 2022, with one-in-five of those aged 30 doing so.

Unpaid carers on the rise

Of the 522,000 people living with their parents, more than 25,000 were unpaid carers.

This ties in with the fact that 22% of the country has a disability of some sort.

Overall, between 2016 and 2022, the number of people providing regular unpaid care increased by over 50%, from 195,263 people in 2016 to 299,128 in 2022.

The number of carers aged under 15 years was 4,759.

Ireland is a welcome home for same-sex couples 

There was a huge jump in the number of same-sex couples in Ireland.

Per the census, there are now 10,393 — a rise of 157% since 2011, aided by the legalization of same-sex marriage in Ireland in 2015.

Meath (up 194 couples) and Roscommon (up 40 couples) saw larger increases than any other country.

Within those same-sex couples, we learned that 1,583 have children.

Catholic Ireland is on the decline

187% — That’s the increase in the number of people in Ireland who say they have no religion, compared to the 2011 Census.

Accompanying that is the fall in the number of people who opted for Roman Catholic on census night with the figure falling from 79% to 69%.

In the immediate aftermath of the census, much had been made about the placement of ‘no religion’ as the first option on the form, as opposed to its previous spot of the last option.

Younger generations were less likely to be Roman Catholic — and were also the cohort with the highest number of people identifying with no religion.

1,800 people identified as ‘Jedi Knights’.

More than a third of us are working from home

The covid pandemic prompted the rise in working from home, but as we entered 2023, more people began to return to the office. 

However, 750,000 of us are continuing to work from home.

Some 15% of the people who answered yes worked from home for one day a week, 17% for two days, 16% for three days, 10% for four days, and 33% for five or more days a week.

Corkonians want to go back to the future 

Householders in Cork city and county returned the highest number of census forms with a completed time capsule.

The time capsule idea was introduced for the first time in an Irish census in 2022 to offer people an opportunity to write a message for future generations.

The message will be stored securely for a century and will only be released or made available to the public in 2122.

Nearly a fifth, or 348,443 of the 1.8 million households enumerated on census night in April 2022, completed the time capsule section.

The CSO said Cork county and city combined returned the largest number of Census forms with a completed time capsule, at 41,669, followed by Dublin City with 40,857.

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