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Press Statement

Census of Population 2022 - Summary Results Westmeath

CSO press statement,

Census 2022 Summary Results show Westmeath’s population grew to 96,221

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 Westmeath. A full list of county press releases is available.

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 Westmeath grew by 8% to 96,221, which means the number of people in the county rose by 7,451 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 Westmeath

Population – Males and Females

Of Westmeath’s population, 48,500 were female and 47,721 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 Westmeath’s population in April 2022 was 38.6 years, compared with 36.8 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 26% to 14,369 in Westmeath, and by 22% to 776,315 at a national level since 2016.

Dual Irish Citizens

In Westmeath, the number of dual Irish citizens increased from 1,826 to 3,180 while non-Irish citizens accounted for 11% 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 Westmeath remained steady at 7% 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, 82% of people in Westmeath stated that their health was good or very good compared with 87% in 2016.  Nationally, 83% of people stated that their health was good/very good, compared to 87% in 2016.

Irish Speakers

The number of people (aged three and over) who stated that they could speak Irish in Westmeath was 33,598 compared with 32,209 in 2016.  Within this figure 632 said they spoke Irish daily while 1,786 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 42,077 people (aged 15 and over) at work in Westmeath, an increase of 6,788 people (+19%) between 2016 and 2022.  Nationally, there were 313,656 additional people (+16%) at work.

Working From Home

In Westmeath, 11,096 people (aged 15 and over) worked from home at least one day a week in 2022.  This represented 26% of the workforce. The national figure was 32%.

Childcare

This was a new question for Census 2022. There were 19,779 children aged 15 and under in Westmeath in April 2022. Of these, 6,343 (32%) were in childcare, compared with 33% nationally.

Tenure

In 2022, in Westmeath 68% of households owned their own home, with a further 26% renting. This compared with 66% of households owning their home nationally and 28% renting.

Time Capsule

In Westmeath, 19% 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.”

Editor's Note

  • Today’s Summary Report is the first in a series of reports on Census 2022. Throughout the rest of the year, we will publish eight themed reports exploring a range of topics such as housing, homelessness, and religion in greater detail.  The titles of the reports are:
    • Profile 1 - Population Distribution and Movement
    • Profile 2 - Housing in Ireland
    • Profile 3 - Households, Families and Childcare
    • Profile 4 - Disability, Health and Carers
    • Profile 5 - Diversity, Migration, Ethnicity, Irish Travellers, and Religion
    • Profile 6 - Homelessness
    • Profile 7 - Employment, Occupations and Commuting
    • Profile 8 - The Irish Language and Education
  • Small Area Population Statistics (SAPS), which are statistics produced for a range of geographical levels from State to small areas, will be published in September.  You can view the full Census 2022 Publication Schedule.
  • An infographic has been published for the Census 2022 Summary Results. Contact pressoffice@cso.ie if you require the infographic in a particular format.
  • The CSO will only be releasing information about the number of Time Capsules that were completed in 2022.  No other information was captured from the Time Capsule section during census processing. The Time Capsules will be stored securely for 100 years in line with Article 35 of the Statistics Act, 1993, after which they will be released to the public.

Contacts

Kathleen Goulding (+353) 1 895 1413
Tony Downes (+353) 1 895 1319
Email censuspublicity@cso.ie

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