The first results from the 2022 census are out. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) published the preliminary results of the first population wide survey since 2016 on Thursday morning. The official results of the 2022 census will be released next April.
The census, which was carried out on Sunday April 3 this year, had been delayed a year by the Covid-19 pandemic. The next census will be carried out in 2027.
Here is what we learned:
- The population of the country now stands at 5,123,536 million people. It is the first time that the population has been over 5 million since 1851. This is an increase of 7.6% from the 2016 census, which told us there were 4,757,976 people living in the state. The 2016 population figure was an increase of 3.7% on the previous census, carried out in 2011. There were 2,593,600 females and 2,529,936 males recorded, which is an increase of 7.7% and 7.5% respectively.
- Every county in Ireland saw their population grow, and the counties where the population grew the most were in Leinster. The population of Longford grew by more than 14%, the highest percentage increase in the country though it is important to note that Longford has the second lowest population in Ireland.
- The fastest growing Dáil constituency, in terms of population, was Meath East, with a 13% increase. The slowest were Donegal and Limerick County.
- According to the 2022 census, the current housing stock is 2,124,590. This is a growth of 120,000, or an increase of 6% on the 2016 figure.
- The east of the country had the highest rate of change in its housing stock. Kildare had a 12% increase in its housing stock, compared to an 11% increase in its population. While in Roscommon, the housing stock increased by 3% while the population increased by 8%.
- There are now 16,560 fewer vacant dwellings in Ireland, when comparing the 2022 census with the 2016 census. The CSO said that this figure does not include holiday homes. There were 66,135 holiday homes in 2022, compared with 62,148 in 2016.
The 2022 census was the first to offer “no religion” as the first option when asking people about their faith. It was followed by Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland, Islam, Orthodox Christian, Presbyterian and Other. In 2016, “no religion” was the last option on the list. This year’s census also gave the public the chance to write a time capsule message of their choosing, which won’t be published until 2122.
As well as the new time capsule option, the 2022 census included eight new questions relating to childcare, renewable energy, working from home, internet access and devices, smoking, smoke alarms, volunteering and how people travel to work, school or college.
Forms were delivered to over two million homes, institutions, hotels and other kinds of accommodation ahead of the census on April 3. Each person in the state was required by law to be entered into a form.
(Source – Irish Independent – News – Ellen Coyne – 23/06/2022)