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 Kilkenny. 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 Kilkenny grew by 5% to 104,160, which means the number of people in the county rose by 4,928 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 Kilkenny
Population – Males and Females
Of Kilkenny’s population, 52,277 were female and 51,883 were male, which means there were 99 males for every 100 females. In Ireland overall there were 2,604,590 females and 2,544,549 males which was 98 males for every 100 females.
Population by Age
The average age of Kilkenny’s population in April 2022 was 39.7 years, compared with 37.9 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 21% to 17,056 in Kilkenny, and by 22% to 776,315 at a national level since 2016.
Dual Irish Citizens
In Kilkenny, the number of dual Irish citizens increased from 1,604 to 2,628 while non-Irish citizens accounted for 8% 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 Kilkenny 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, 85% of people in Kilkenny stated that their health was good or very good compared with 88% 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 Kilkenny was 41,037 compared with 38,722 in 2016. Within this figure 919 said they spoke Irish daily while 2,314 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 46,196 people (aged 15 and over) at work in Kilkenny, an increase of 4,833 people (+12%) between 2016 and 2022. Nationally, there were 313,656 additional people (+16%) at work.
Working From Home
In Kilkenny, 12,906 people (aged 15 and over) worked from home at least one day a week in 2022. This represented 28% of the workforce. The national figure was 32%.
Childcare
This was a new question for 2022. There were 21,094 children aged 15 and under in Kilkenny in April 2022. Of these, 7,847 (37%) were in childcare, compared with 33% nationally.
Tenure
In 2022, in Kilkenny 72% 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 Kilkenny, 20% of households wrote a message in their 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.”