People power
Census 2022 reveals a population of 5.1million, the biggest since 1841
IRELAND’S getting more crowded. The population is rising and has hit the 5.1 million mark, the highest population recorded in a census since 1841.
Just weeks after Census 2022 on April 3, results trickling in from the Central Statistics Office are revealing the changing face on the nation.
The census is normally held every five years but was postponed last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
So, this time, there’s a six-year gap between the massive stats sweep of the country.
And the top finding is how many of us there are. The population of the Republic increased by 7.6 per cent in the six years between 2016 and 2022.
This brought the numbers living in the State to 5,123,536 people on census night, April 3.
To put that into a broader context – it is the highest population recorded in a census since 1841 and the first time the population exceeded five million since 1851.
Every single county in Ireland had a population growth since 2016. Longford saw the biggest percentage increase of 14.1 per cent, followed by Meath at 12.9 per cent.
In the six years between Census 2016 and Census 2022, there was net inward migration of more than 190,000.
The preliminary results published 12 weeks after Census night are based on initial counts from more than 5,000 enumeration areas. And women outnumber men. There were 2,593,600 females and 2,529,936 males recorded, an increase of 7.7 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively. The population increase of 361,671 was made up of a natural increase (births minus deaths) of 171,338 and estimated net inward migration (population change minus natural increase) of 190,333.
The counties recording the highest population growth were in Leinster.
In contrast to Census 2016, when three counties – Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal – had a fall in 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 per cent), and Kilkenny (+4.5 per cent), being lower. In Munster, Waterford (+9.4 per cent) had a higher percentage increase than that of the State overall.
Both Leitrim (+9.5 per cent) and Roscommon (+8.4 per cent) showed a higher percentage increase than the national rate, while Cavan, Donegal, or Monaghan did not.
Cormac Halpin, of the Census section of the CSO, said: “The CSO would like to thank both the staff involved in the census for their hard work, and the public for their overwhelmingly positive response to and engagement with our national census.
“The results provide valuable initial insights into how our population and housing situation is changing and developing since Census 2016. We are busy working on the completed census forms.”