Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2009

The Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2009 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

• There were 75,065 births registered in 2008 – 38,593 males and 36,472 females. This was the highest number of births recorded since 1896 when there were 75,332 births registered in the 26 counties.
• The most popular babies’ names in 2008 were Jack and Ava.

Work

• Employment in the construction industry in 2008 accounted for over 11% of total employment. This is down from 13% in 2007.
• In April 2008 10.7% of persons on the Live Register had a duration of continuous registration of 3 years and over.
• The average annual number on the Live Register increased from 162,000 in 2007 to 227,000 in 2008.

Health and Social Conditions

• Social welfare expenditure has increased from 8.7% of Gross National Income in 1998 to 11.4% in 2008.
• The number of recipients of Illness, Disability and Caring payments rose by 47.6% between 2001 and 2008, while the number receiving Jobseekers Supports increased by over 86% during the same period.

Education

• In 2008 29% of those aged 15 to 64 had a third level qualification.
• In 2008 there were 30,368 primary school teachers in the State, 84% of whom were female.

Crime

• Drug offences increased by over a quarter between 2007 and 2008.
• In 2008, the majority of prisoners were less than 30 years old.
• 14.6% of households in urban areas were victims of crime compared with 6.3% of households in rural areas.

Economy and Finance

• A deficit of 9.4 billion was recorded in the current account of the balance of payments in 2008. The average deficit over the last three years was €8.6 billion.
• Lending by credit institutions to personal (private households) sector decreased from €148bn in 2007 to €138bn in 2008, the first such fall.
• National Debt as a percentage of GDP has fallen from 87.7% in 1990 to 27.7% in 2008.

External Trade

• Chemicals accounted for just over half of Ireland's exports in 2008. This was driven by a substantial increase in the exports of medical & pharmaceutical products,which rose from €5.3bn in 2000 to €16.7bn in 2008.
• Imports rose slightly between 2000 and 2008, from €55.9bn to €57.0bn. Imports from China have risen, while imports from the USA and Japan have fallen.

Tourism and Transport

• Irish residents made 7,877,000 trips abroad in 2008, up slightly from 2007. Total expenditure increased by 12.2% to €6,912m from 2007.
• New private cars licensed for the first time in 2008 were 19% lower than in 2007.
• The highest number of new private cars licensed for the first time in 2008, classified by make, was Toyota (20,474),followed by Ford (18,403) and Volkswagen (15,700).

Housing

• The number of new houses for which planning permission was granted decreased by 26% from 1999 to 2008. The number of new apartments for which planning permission was granted increased by 54.5% in the same period.
• The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels sector experienced the highest rate of price increase in 2008 at 9.6%.
• Between 2001 and 2008, public capital expenditure on housing increased by over 73%.

Knowledge Economy

• 62% of Irish households had a computer connected to the internet in the first quarter of 2008.
• Nearly two thirds of businesses with 10 or more employees had a website or homepage in 2008.

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_2009.htm

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 - 4535036 Fax 021 4535555

e-mail: information@cso.ie

- ENDS -