Press Statement

Preasráiteas

23 June 2022

Go to release: Census of Population 2022 - Preliminary Results

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (23 June 2022) released the Preliminary Results from Census 2022.

These preliminary results, published 12 weeks after Census night (Sunday 03 April 2022), are based on initial counts from more than 5,000 enumeration areas.

Population

Commenting on the release, Cormac Halpin, Senior Statistician in the Census Division, said “The Preliminary Results show a population of 5,123,536 on Census night. This is an increase of 7.6% since 2016. It is also the highest population recorded in a census since 1841.

There were 2,593,600 females and 2,529,936 males recorded, which is an increase of 7.7% and 7.5% 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. Longford grew by more than 14%, with Meath, Kildare, and Fingal, also growing strongly. In contrast to Census 2016, when two counties (Mayo and Donegal) had a fall in their 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%), and Kilkenny (+4.5%), being lower. In Munster, Waterford (+9.4%) had a higher percentage increase than that of the State overall. Both Leitrim (+9.5%) and Roscommon (+8.4%) showed a higher percentage increase than the national rate, while Cavan, Donegal, or Monaghan did not.”

Housing

Mr. Halpin stated that the Preliminary Results also provide initial figures on the country’s housing stock. “The Preliminary Results show that the total housing stock on 03 April 2022 was 2,124,590, an increase of 6.0% on the 2016 figure. There were 16,560 fewer vacant dwellings (-9.0%) in 2022 compared to 2016. This does not include holiday homes, of which there were 66,135, compared with 62,148 in 2016.

A dwelling being classified as vacant for census purposes does not necessarily imply that it is available for re-use. Census vacancy is essentially a point in time measure which may be different to other reported measures of vacancy which may focus more on longer term vacancy. A dwelling is classed as vacant by census enumerators if it is unoccupied for a short or long period around Census night. For example, it may be unoccupied because it is up for sale or rent, under renovation, or if the owner has passed away, or is in a nursing home. Dwellings under construction and derelict properties are also not included in the Census count of vacant dwellings.” See Editor’s Note below for more information

Mr. Halpin added: “The publication of these Preliminary Results, less than 12 weeks after Census night, is only possible thanks to the commitment and dedication of both our census field staff and the permanent census staff in Swords, as well as the continued support for the census from the public. 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 and look forward to begin sharing the full set of detailed results from April next year.”

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