The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (30 May 2023) released Census 2022 Summary Results, which details the population changes at a national level since April 2016. We have also broken down the results at a county level and this press release highlights some of the main changes for Donegal. A full list of county press releases is available.
| Kathleen Goulding | (+353) 1 895 1413 |
|---|---|
| Tony Downes | (+353) 1 895 1319 |
| censuspublicity@cso.ie |
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Statistician's Comment
Commenting on the results, Cormac Halpin, Senior Statistician in the Census Division, said: “Today’s Census 2022 results provide us with unique and valuable insights into the Ireland that we live in today.
Looking at the results at a county level, Census 2022 shows that the population of Donegal grew by 5% to 167,084, which means the number of people in the county rose by 7,892 between April 2016 and April 2022. Over the same period, Ireland's population grew by 8% from 4,761,865 to 5,149,139.”
Results for Donegal
Population – Males and Females
Of Donegal’s population, 84,289 were female and 82,795 were male, which means there were 98 males for every 100 females. In Ireland overall there were 2,604,590 females and 2,544,549 males or 98 males for every 100 females.
Population by Age
The average age of Donegal’s population in April 2022 was 40.1 years, compared with 38.5 years in April 2016. Nationally, the average age of the population was 38.8, up from 37.4 in April 2016.
The number of people aged 65 and over continues to grow. This age group increased by 19% to 29,623 in Donegal, and by 22% to 776,315 at a national level, since 2016.
Dual Irish Citizens
In Donegal, the number of dual Irish citizens increased from 2,405 to 4,307 while non-Irish citizens accounted for 7% of the county’s population. Nationally, dual Irish citizenship increased by 63% from 104,784 to 170,597 people and non-Irish citizens made up 12% of the population.
Divorce/Separation
The proportion of separated and divorced people in Donegal remains steady at 6% of the population (aged 15 and over), the same as in 2016. The national comparison was 6% in both 2022 and 2016.
Health
In 2022, 83% of people in Donegal stated that their health was good or very good compared with 86% in 2016. This is a similar trend to the national figures, which showed a 4% decrease in the good/very good categories, from 87% to 83%.
Irish Speakers
The number of people (aged three and over) who stated that they could speak Irish in Donegal was 59,130 compared with 56,738 in 2016. Within this figure 7,750 said they spoke Irish daily while 4,533 spoke Irish weekly. Nationally 1,873,997 people stated they were able to speak Irish, with 71,968 speaking Irish daily and 115,065 speaking it weekly.
Employment
There were 67,977 people (aged 15 and over) at work in Donegal, an increase of 9,624 people (+16%) between 2016 and 2022. Nationally, there were 313,656 additional people (+16%) at work.
Working From Home
In Donegal, 15,350 people (aged 15 and over) worked from home at least one day a week in 2022. This represented 23% of the workforce. The national figure was 32%.
Childcare
This was a new question for Census 2022. There were 34,092 children aged 15 and under in Donegal in April 2022. Of these, 10,972 (32%) were in childcare, compared with 33% nationally.
Tenure
In 2022, in Donegal 70% of households owned their own home, with a further 23% renting. This compared with 66% of households owning their home nationally and 28% renting.
Time Capsule
In Donegal, 16% of households wrote a message in the Time Capsule. Nationally, this figure was 19%. (See Editor’s Note below).
Appreciation
Commenting on Census 2022 participation, Cormac Halpin, said: “The publication of Census 2022 results could not have been achieved without the overwhelmingly positive response from the public and we thank everyone who completed their census form on 03 April 2022. We would also like to thank everyone involved in the Census 2022 campaign culminating in today’s successful publication of the results.”