Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2008

The Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2008 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

• Irish society is becoming more diverse. There were 188 countries represented in the non-Irish national population. However 82% of these came from only 10 countries: UK, Poland, Lithuania, Nigeria, Latvia, US, China, Germany, Philippines and France.
• The number of divorced persons increased from 35,000 to 59,500 between 2002 and 2006, a rise of 70%.
• The most popular babies' names in 2007 were Jack and Sarah.

Work

• From 1985 to 2007 the number of persons in employment increased from 1.1 million to 2.1 million.
• In 2007 employment in the construction industry accounted for 13% of total employment.
• In 2007 there were only 6,038 days lost due to 6 industrial disputes.

Education

• At age 19, 66% of females and 48% of males were in full-time education in 2006/2007.
• In 2007 there were 29,534 primary school teachers in the state, 84% of whom were female.
• In 2006/2007 there were 26,317 full-time equivalent teachers in secondary schools.

Crime

• Homicide offences rose by almost two-thirds between 2003 and 2007.
• Almost 40% of female victims of rape/sexual assault in 2007 were in the 16-25 age group.
• In 2007 knives or sharp instruments were involved in over a third of all robberies/aggravated burglaries.

Economy

• Lending by credit institutions to the personal (private households) sector increased to over €148bn in 2007 from €134bn in 2006, but the pace of growth slowed compared to previous years.
• A deficit of €10.3 billion was recorded in the current account of the balance of the payments in 2007. The average deficit over the last five year was €4.6 billion.
• The General Government Balance was a surplus of €554m in 2007 compared with a surplus of €5,213m in 2006.

Tourism/Transport

• Driving tests conducted in 2006 totalled 154,741, with an overall pass rate of 52%.
• Highest number of new private cars licensed for the first time in 2007, classified by make, was Toyota (27,030), Volkswagen (21,087) and Ford (20,027).
• In 2007 expenditure by residents from other European countries exceeded expenditure by residents of Great Britain for the first time.

Housing

• Between 2000 and 2007, public capital expenditure on housing increased by 130%.
• The number of dwellings completed increased by 57% between 2000 and 2007.
• The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels sector experienced the highest rate of price increase in 2007 at 20.4%.

Knowledge Economy

• The ICT sector employed over 82,700 persons in 2005.
• In total, 57% of Irish households had access to the internet in the first quarter of 2007. Almost 31% of all households had a broadband connection.
• Nearly two thirds of businesses with 10 or more employees had a website or homepage in 2007.

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 these results is available free of charge on the CSO website at:

http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/statistical_yearbook_ireland_2008.htm

The Yearbook 2008 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 - 4535036) Fax 021 4535555

e-mail: information@cso.ie

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