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This chapter looks at the topics of ethnicity, country of birth, language, and religion. The data combines results from the censuses held in Northern Ireland in 2021 and in Ireland in 2022.
To compare data on ethnic groups in Ireland and Northern Ireland, the population has been aligned into five categories. See the Background Notes for further information. Figure 3.1 shows the proportion of the population in each ethnic group in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
In Ireland in 2022, 86% of the population identified as White, compared with 97% in Northern Ireland in 2021.
The number of people identifying as Irish Travellers was 32,949 (0.6%) in Ireland and 2,610 (0.1%) in Northern Ireland.
An Asian ethnicity was recorded for 4% of the population in Ireland (186,321 people), compared with 2% in Northern Ireland (32,480 people).
The proportion of people identifying as Black accounted for 1.5% of the population in Ireland (76,245 people), compared with 0.6% in Northern Ireland (11,030 people).
Figure 3.2 below shows the age breakdown of the population by ethnic background in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The age profile of the population in the White ethnic group reflected that of the overall population, while other ethnic backgrounds were quite different.
Over half the Irish Traveller population in Ireland (55%) and Northern Ireland (52%) were aged less than 25 years.
The majority of the population with an Asian ethnic background were aged 20 to 49 years (59% in Ireland, 57% in Northern Ireland).
The population who identified as Black was higher among those aged 10 to 19 years in Ireland (25%), and among those aged 30 to 39 years in Northern Ireland (23%).
The proportion of the population who identified as Other including mixed background was highest among those aged 0 to 14 years in Northern Ireland (42%), compared with 31% in Ireland. A further one in five (22%) of the people in Ireland who identified as Other including mixed background were aged 30 to 39 years.
The following tables show the top 10 countries of birth of the population in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
In Ireland, 20% (1,017,000) of the population were born outside Ireland; 1% were born in Northern Ireland.
In Northern Ireland, 257,000 (13%) of the usual residents were born outside Northern Ireland; 2% were born in Ireland.
One-in-twenty (5%) of the usually resident population in Northern Ireland were born in Great Britain. The equivalent proportion in Ireland was 4%.
The age breakdown of the population whose main language is not English or Irish is shown in Figure 3.3 below. Main Language is applicable to people aged 3 years and over. The Ireland census question asked if the person spoke a language other than English or Irish at home, and if so what the language was, while the equivalent question in the Northern Ireland census asked respondents to indicate their ‘main language’. Because of these differences, comparisons should be treated with care.
In 2022, 735,514 people usually resident in Ireland used a language other than English or Irish at home, making up 15% of the population aged 3 years and over.
In Northern Ireland, 79,135 people reported a main language other than English or Irish, accounting for 4% of the population aged 3 years and over.
Figure 3.4 shows the most common languages used in Ireland and Northern Ireland other than English or Irish.
There were over 121,000 people whose main language was Polish in Ireland and over 20,000 in Northern Ireland.
Romanian was the second most common foreign language spoken in Ireland with nearly 56,000 speakers, followed by French and Spanish.
In Northern Ireland, Lithuanian was the second most common foreign language (9,000), followed by Romanian and Portuguese.
The following graph shows the breakdown of the population by religion in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Over 3.5 million people living in Ireland reported that their religion was Roman Catholic, accounting for 69% of the population. In Northern Ireland, 805,151 people reported that their religion was Roman Catholic, making up 42% of the population.
In Northern Ireland the proportion of the population who identified as Protestant and other Christian was 37% (710,993) compared with 7% (340,368) in Ireland.
The proportion of the population who reported having no religion was 17% (330,983) in Northern Ireland, compared with 15% (740,033) in Ireland.
The age breakdown of the population varied across different religious groupings as can be seen in Figure 3.6.
Ireland recorded a lower proportion of people who identified as Roman Catholic (21%) compared with Northern Ireland (26%) among the 20 to 39 years age groups.
Age groups over 40 years generally reported a greater proportion of Roman Catholics in Ireland than in Northern Ireland.
Among the population in Northern Ireland who identify as Protestant and other Christian religions, just over half (53%) were aged less than 50 years. In Ireland, the Protestant and other Christian population were younger, with 72% aged under 50 years.
In both Ireland and Northern Ireland, the greatest proportion of people with Hindu religion were aged 25 to 44 years, though the proportion was greater in Ireland (62%) than in Northern Ireland (49%). A peak is also seen in the younger age groups, with 14% of Hindus in Ireland, and 17% in Northern Ireland, aged 0 to 9 years.
The distribution across age groups among the Muslim population was similar in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The highest proportions were among the 5 to 9 years group (both 11%) and 35 to 39 years group (10% in Ireland and 11% in Northern Ireland).
Map 3.1 below shows the geographical distribution of the population who identify as having no religion.
Across administrative areas, the proportion of usual residents who identified as having no religion tended to be higher in the areas around Belfast, Dublin, and Galway cities.
In Ireland, no religion was recorded for 24% of people living in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, but only 7% of people in Monaghan.
The proportion of each Local Government Area in Northern Ireland recording no religion ranged from 8% in Mid Ulster to 31% in Ards and North Down.
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