The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (05 December 2023) released Census 2022 Profile 7 – Employment, Occupations and Commuting. This press release highlights some of the main results for Kerry. 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, Dr. Tracy Clegg, Statistician in the Census Division, said: “Profile 7 covers the topics of Employment, Unemployment and Commuting providing statistics, analysis and data tables. The report looks at people at work or unemployed, occupations and industrial sectors as well as the commuting patterns of workers, students and children in school or childcare. New for Census 2022 are the additional topics of commuting to childcare and time leaving workplace, school, college or childcare giving more rounded information on travelling patterns as well as information on working from home.”
Some highlights for Kerry
People at Work/Unemployed
Almost 128,000 people living in the county in April 2022 were aged 15 and over and of these more than 67,500 people were at work. This was an increase of 10% (from the more than 61,000 people recorded as working in Census 2016). This was the lowest rate of employment growth in the country over the period. Nationally there were 2.3 million people at work in April 2022, which was up by 16%.
Almost 6,700 people were unemployed in the county in April 2022. This was considerably lower than the 2016 figure of more than 8,700 people (a decrease of 23%). The unemployment rate was 9% compared with 12% in 2016. Nationally there were almost 211,000 people unemployed compared with over 297,000 in Census 2016. The unemployment rate was 8% in 2022 compared with 13% in 2016.
There were more than 24,700 retired people in Kerry, up 13% since Census 2016. There was a 24% increase in the number of people who were unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability to 6,490 people. The number of people looking after their home/family fell by 8% to just over 8,800.
The labour force participation rate was 58% in Kerry compared with 61% nationally. Among females the rate was 53% while for males it was 64%. Nationally the trend was similar at 56% for female labour force participation and 67% for males.
Most people in work in Kerry were in full-time employment, with nearly 48,600 people in this category, compared with over 12,000 who were working part-time.
Where people worked
The Wholesale and Retail Trade sector accounted for the largest number of workers in the county at almost 8,800. Human Health and Social Work Activities was the next largest, with just over 7,600 workers followed by Accommodation and Food Service Activities with more than 6,700 workers.
Working From Home
A new question was included in Census 2022 asking people whether they ever worked from home and if so, for how many days per week. There were more than 67,500 people at work in Kerry in April 2022. Of these, over 42,900 never worked from home, while more than 17,100 people worked from home at least some of the time. Of those working from home, more than 4,100 people did so for five days per week, with 2,908 doing so for one day and 2,404 for two days each week.
Travelling to Work
There were 58,541 people travelling to work in the county in April 2022. The majority of these drove to work, with 38,084 people driving to work by car in 2022. There were 652 people travelling by bus, while 96 were travelling by train. Looking at active travel, 5,303 people walked to work, up from 4,812 in 2016, while 876 people cycled, an increase of 37 people since 2016. Commuters in Dingle-Daingean Uí Chúis were the most likely to walk to work (among towns with a population of at least 1,500 people) at 44%.
Commuters in the county were travelling for longer in April 2022, with an average journey time of 24.6 minutes compared with 22.7 minutes in 2016. Nationally, the average journey time increased from 28.2 minutes to 29.1 minutes between 2016 and 2022. There were 18,555 Kerry commuters who had a journey time of less than 15 minutes, while 16,451 people had a journey time of 15 to 30 minutes. A further 4,683 people had a journey time of 60 minutes and over.
Travelling to School, College or Childcare
In Kerry, nearly 4,700 children aged under 5 travelled to childcare or school. Most of these (over 3,900) travelled by car, while 396 walked and 49 went by bus.
Most of the 15,734 primary school aged children (5 to 12 years old) travelling to school in the county in April 2022 also travelled by car, with 10,775 doing so. Travelling by bus was the second most common means of travel at 1,776 children while 1,694 walked and 126 children cycled.
Of the 11,395 secondary students (those aged 13-18 years) travelling to school, 5,816 were driven to school in a car, while 242 drove themselves to school. There were 3,342 students using a bus, and 36 using the train. A further 1,190 students walked to school while 132 cycled.
For the 5,120 third-level students commuting, driving car was the most popular means of travel, at 1,841 people. There were 1,211 students who walked, while 638 used a bus. Another 135 students travelled by train, DART or Luas while 92 cycled.