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23rd Jun 2022

Irish population at its highest since 1841

Hugh Carr

census results

All counties showed growth since the previous Census.

The preliminary results of the 2022 Census are in, with Ireland seeing major growth since 2016.

The report was published by the Central Statistics Office, 12 weeks after Census night in April.

The results are based on initial counts from over 5,000 enumeration areas.

The population of the country now stands at 5,123,536; the highest such number recorded since 1841.

All counties saw growth in population since the previous census, with Longford seeing the largest increase in the country (14.1%).

“The counties recording the highest population growth were in Leinster,” said Cormac Halpin, Senior Statistician with the CSO.

“Longford grew by more than 14%, with Meath, Kildare, and Fingal, also growing strongly. In contrast to Census 2016, when three counties (Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal) had a fall in their population, the Preliminary Results show that the population of every county has increased since 2016.

“In Leinster, 10 of the 12 counties showed a higher percentage increase than the national average, with Offaly (+6.0%), and Kilkenny (+4.5%), being lower. In Munster, Waterford (+9.4%) had a higher percentage increase than that of the State overall.

“Both Leitrim (+9.5%) and Roscommon (+8.4%) showed a higher percentage increase than the national rate, while Cavan, Donegal, or Monaghan did not.”

There were 2,593,600 women and 2,529,936 men recorded in the country, which is an increase of 7.7% and 7.5% respectively.

Housing stock increased by 6% since 2016, with 2.1 million homes in the state.

Vacant dwellings, excluding holiday homes, fell to 166,752.

“A dwelling is classed as vacant by census enumerators if it is unoccupied for a short or long period around Census night,” Halpin added.

“For example, it may be unoccupied because it is up for sale or rent, under renovation, or if the owner has passed away, or is in a nursing home. Dwellings under construction and derelict properties are also not included in the Census count of vacant dwellings.”

The next Census is set to take place in 2027, with an online response option in the works.

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