Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2011

The Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2011 is being published today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The Yearbook presents a comprehensive picture of Ireland today. It provides detailed information, tables and graphs across a wide range of topics. These include the population, labour force, education, crime, the economy, agriculture, industry, services, prices, housing, knowledge economy and the environment.

People

• The preliminary total for the population enumerated on census night 10 April 2011 was 4,581,269 persons, compared with 4,239,848 persons in April 2006, representing an increase of 8.1% in five years.
• There were 73,724 births registered in 2010, a decrease of 554 from 2009.
• The most popular babies’ names in 2010 were Jack and Sophie.

Work

• The number of persons in employment fell from 1.939 million in 2009 to 1.859 million in 2010.
• The number of persons unemployed in 2010 was 293,600 compared with 264,600 in 2009, an increase of 11%.
• The greatest decreases in average weekly earnings were recorded in the Human health and social work (-7.7%) and Professional and scientific and technical (-6.7%) sectors.
• Female average annual earnings were 72% of male earnings with females earning on average €33,932 as against €47,178 for males in 2009.

Economy and Finance

• In 2010, GNP in constant prices increased slightly (by 0.3%) compared with 2009. This follows a decrease of 9.8% in 2009 compared with the previous year.
• The General Government Balance was a record deficit of €49,599m in 2010 compared with a deficit of €22,694m in 2009.
• The average rate of inflation for 2010 was -1.0%, up from -4.5% in 2009.
• In 2010 the main export markets were the USA (23%), Great Britain (14%) and Belgium (14%). Imports were mainly from Great Britain (30%), the USA (14%), Germany (8%) and China (6%).

Social Conditions, Health and Education

• Social Welfare expenditure has increased from 8.0% of Gross National Product in 2000 to 16.7% in 2010.
• The number of people killed on the roads in 2009 was 238, down by 41 (14.7%) compared with the 2008 figure of 279.
• At age 19, 75% of females and 65% of males were in full-time education in 2009/10.
• Almost 29% of individuals reported to have experienced at least one form of enforced deprivation in 2009.

Building and Construction

• The volume of production in building and construction decreased by 30.1% between 2009 and 2010.
• The number of planning permissions granted for new dwellings decreased from 10,380 to 6,347 between 2009 and 2010, a fall of 38.9%.

Services and Distribution

• Motor Trade volume increased by 17.8% in 2010 compared with a decrease of 42.7% in the previous year.
• Retail sales increased by 0.9% in volume and decreased by 2.2% in value in 2010.

Agriculture and Environment

• Between 2000 and 2010 agricultural output prices rose by 15.3%, while input prices rose by 39.9%.
• In June 2010 there were 6.6 million cattle, 4.6 million sheep and 1.5 million pigs.
• Greenhouse gas emissions (as measured in carbon dioxide equivalents) have decreased by 12.5% during the years 2001 to 2009 while acid rain precursor emissions (as measured in sulphur dioxide equivalents) have decreased by 35.6% during the period 2000 to 2009.

Crime

• In 2009, nearly 40% of burglaries were recorded in the Dublin Metropolitan Region.
• In 2010, over half of prisoners (50.3%) were aged 29 years and under.

Tourism and Transport

• Overseas trips to Ireland fell by 12.9% to 6,037,100 in 2010 compared to 2009.
• While Great Britain is by far our largest visitor market, the number of trips to Ireland from this location have fallen by nearly one third to 2,738,500 between 2006 and 2010.
• Driving tests conducted in 2009 totalled 125,823 and an overall pass rate of 48% was achieved.
• New private cars licensed for the first time in 2010 increased by 56% on the figures for 2009.

The CSO wishes to thank all the departments, agencies and individuals who have helped in supplying data for the Yearbook, including those in Northern Ireland who have provided material for the Appendix.

The full text of the Statistical Yearbook is available free of charge on the CSO website at:

Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2011 Edition

The Statistical Yearbook may be purchased from:

The Central Statistics Office, Information Section, Skehard Road, Cork

Government Publications Sales Office, Sun Alliance House, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 or through any bookseller.

For further information, contact: Eamonn Dorney 021 453 5036. Fax 021 453 5555. e-mail: information@cso.ie.

Central Statistics Office                                                                    27 October 2011