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 Offaly. 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 |
-- ENDS --
Statistician's Comment
Commenting on the results, 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 for 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 Offaly
People at Work/Unemployed
Almost 66,000 people living in the county in April 2022 were aged 15 and over and of these more than 35,200 people were at work. This was an increase of 16% (from the almost 30,300 people recorded as working in Census 2016). Nationally there were 2.3 million people at work in April 2022, which was up by 16%.
Almost 3,700 people were unemployed in the county in April 2022. This was considerably lower than the 2016 figure of more than 5,700 people (a decrease of 36%). The unemployment rate was 9% compared with 16% 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 almost 10,600 retired people in Offaly, up 23% since Census 2016. There was a 29% increase in the number of people who were unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability to almost 3,900 people. The number of people looking after their home/family fell by 11% to almost 5,300.
The labour force participation rate was 59% in Offaly compared with 61% nationally. Among females the rate was 52% while for males it was 66%. Nationally the trend was similar at 56% for female labour force participation and 67% for males.
Most people in work in Offaly were in full-time employment, with over 26,600 people in this category, compared with just over 5,100 who were working part-time.
Where people worked
The Manufacturing sector accounted for the largest number of workers in the county at over 4,600. Wholesale and Retail Trade was the next largest, with almost 4,600 workers followed by Human Health and Social Work Activities with more than 4,300 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 35,200 people at work in Offaly in April 2022. Of these, almost 23,200 never worked from home, while more than 8,300 people worked from home at least some of the time. Of those working from home, almost 1,800 people did so for five days per week, with 1,436 doing so for one day and 1,336 for two days each week.
Travelling to Work
There were 32,065 people travelling to work in the county in April 2022. The majority of these drove to work, with 21,143 people driving to work by car in 2022. There were 441 people travelling by bus, and 391 by train. Looking at active travel, 2,367 people walked to work, up from 2,097 in 2016, while 504 people cycled, an increase of 95 people since 2016.
Commuters in the county were travelling for longer in April 2022, with an average journey time of 30.2 minutes compared with 28.9 minutes in 2016. Nationally, the average journey time increased from 28.2 minutes to 29.1 minutes between 2016 and 2022. There were 8,828 Offaly commuters who had a journey time of less than 15 minutes, while 7,857 people had a journey time of 15 to 30 minutes. A further 4,769 people had a journey time of 60 minutes and over.
Travelling to School, College or Childcare
In Offaly, over 2,500 children aged under 5 travelled to childcare or school. Most of these (almost 2,100) travelled by car, while 243 walked and 40 went by bus.
Most of the 9,638 primary school aged children (5 to 12 years old) travelling to school in the county in April 2022 also travelled by car, with 5,850 doing so. Walking was the second most common means of travel at 1,490 children. A further 1,297 children used a bus while 134 children cycled.
Of the 6,844 secondary students (those aged 13-18 years) travelling to school, 3,008 were driven to school in a car, while 141 drove themselves to school. There were 1,845 students using a bus, and 39 using the train. A further 1,340 students walked to school while 89 cycled. Secondary students in Banagher had the shortest average travel time to school at 8 minutes.
For the 2,608 third-level students commuting, driving was the most popular means of travel, at 873 people. There were 503 students who used a bus, while 401 walked. Another 268 students were a passenger in a car while 238 travelled by train, DART or Luas.