The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (26 October 2023) released Census 2022 Profile 5 – Diversity, Migration, Ethnicity, Irish Travellers and Religion. Profile 5 looks at the diversity of the population in Ireland, including country of citizenship, ethnic group or background and languages spoken. Recent migration in the year leading up to the census, Irish Travellers and religion are also covered. This press release highlights some of the main results for Cork. A full list of county press releases is available.
| Kathleen Goulding | (+353) 1 895 1413 |
|---|---|
| Tony Downes | (+353) 1 895 1319 |
| censuspublicity@cso.ie | |
| pressoffice@cso.ie |
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Statistician's Comment
Commenting on the results, Brendan Murphy, Statistician in the Census Division, said: “Profile 5 provides detailed information on the range of citizenships among the Irish population, including breakdowns by age and sex as well as by county and town. It shows the recent immigration to Ireland and migration within Ireland. There was a 9% increase on the number of people moving to Ireland in the year leading up to Census date 3 April 2022 compared with the same period in 2016 to over 89,500 people. This wide-ranging profile also considers the various ethnic backgrounds of our population, including details on the age, sex and citizenship of different groups. It looks at our Traveller population in 2022, including breakdowns by sex and household type. It also provides details of the religious composition of the Irish population in April 2022.”
Some highlights for Cork
Citizenship
In Cork non-Irish citizens accounted for 12% of the population. Among the non-Irish residents in Cork City, the largest group were Polish citizens (4,423 people), followed by Indian citizens (3,016) and the UK (2,434). In Cork County the largest group were Polish citizens (8,590 people), followed by UK citizens (8,127 people) and Lithuanian (1,602). Nationally there were more than 631,000 non-Irish citizens, which was 12% of the population. The number of dual-Irish citizens, which is when you are a citizen of two countries at the same time, in Cork increased from 10,411 in 2016 to 18,107 in 2022. The largest dual-Irish citizenships in Cork City included Irish-UK (1,106 people) and Irish-US (1,291). In Cork County, the largest dual-Irish citizenships included Irish-UK (2,614 people) and Irish-US (2,057). There were more than 170,500 dual-Irish residents in Ireland in Census 2022.
Immigration
There were 8,555 people living in Cork City in April 2022 who had moved to the city in the year before the census. This included 3,148 people who had moved from elsewhere within Ireland, and 5,407 people from outside the State. A further 11,110 people had moved within the city in the year before the census. There were 6,398 people living in Cork County in April 2022 who had moved to the county in the year before the census. This included 2,349 people who had moved from elsewhere within Ireland, and 4,049 people from outside the State. A further 13,039 people had moved within the county in the year before the census.
Ethnic Group/Background
Almost 456,500 people living in Cork in April 2022 had a White Irish ethnic group or background. A further 57,672 people identified as Any other White. There were 8,254 people whose ethnic group/background was Asian or Asian Irish - Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi and 6,193 people with a Black or Black Irish – African ethnic group/ background.
Irish Travellers
There were 2,376 Travellers in Cork in Census 2022, compared with 2,150 in 2016 (+11%). This included 1,220 females and 1,156 males. Cork City recorded 1,245 Travellers while there were 1,131 in Cork County. There were 32,949 Travellers in Ireland, compared with 30,987 in 2016 (+6%). This included 16,777 females and 16,172 males.
Religion
In Census 2022 over 414,000 people in the county were Catholic (71%). This was down from 80% in Census 2016. Nationally, 69% stated they were Catholic, compared with 78% in 2016. The other most common religions in Cork included Church of Ireland (with 13,284 people), Orthodox (7,152) and Islam (7,126). There were almost 91,400 people who stated they did not have a religion, which was up from over 56,400 in Census 2016, up 62%. They made up 16% of the county’s population, compared with 10% in 2016.