This publication is part of a series of results from Census 2022. More thematic publications will be published throughout 2023 as outlined in the Census 2022 Publication Schedule.
The 26th census since 1841 was carried out on the night of Sunday, 03 April 2022 in accordance with the Statistics (Census of Population) Order 2020 and in order to facilitate the EU requirements arising from the implementing legislation associated with Regulation (EC) No. 763/2008 on population and housing censuses.
The census population figures in this report relate to the de facto population meaning persons who were present in the State on the night of Sunday, 03 April 2022. The de facto population includes persons who do not usually live in Ireland but who were in the State on Census Night. It excludes persons who usually live in Ireland but who were temporarily absent, outside of the State, on Census Night. Persons who were present in the State were enumerated and are reported at the location where they spent Census Night. This may not have been the location where they usually live.
The 26th census was originally scheduled to take place on the night of Sunday, 08 April 2021. Following advice from the CSO, the government decided in September 2020 to postpone the census for approximately one year owing to the ongoing difficulties arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the purposes of census enumeration, the State was divided into 6 Census Liaison Areas, 46 Regions, 466 Field Districts and 5,100 Enumeration Areas. Census Enumerators were assigned to these Enumeration Areas and, during the five weeks before Census Night, delivered census questionnaires to all dwellings that were expected to be occupied on Sunday, 03 April 2022. Each address within an Enumeration Area was recorded as either occupied, unoccupied or not suitable for habitation.
The collection of completed questionnaires took place between Monday, 04 April and Friday, 06 May 2022.
The data in this report is based on the information handwritten on the census forms. After collection, the census forms were returned to CSO where they were scanned to capture and digitize the handwritten information. This digitized information was then processed to prepare it for publication.
The date of the census was chosen to coincide with a period when as many people as possible were at their home address and consequently the figures closely approximate the normally resident population.
The de facto measure of the population represents all persons who were present in the State on Census Night, irrespective of whether they were usually resident in the State at the time of the census.
The usually resident and present measure of the population refers to all persons who usually live in Ireland and who were present in the State on Census Night. It excludes persons who were not usually resident in the State on Census Night but who were present and persons who were usually resident in the State but were outside the State on Census Night.
The usually resident and present measure is used when analysing topics such as country of citizenship and households and families.
The reference person in each private household is the first person in the household identified as a parent, spouse, cohabiting partner or head of a non-family household containing related persons. Where no person in the household satisfied these criteria, the first usually resident person was used as the reference person. In this publication, the reference person is referred to as the ‘head of household’.
A private household comprises either one person living alone or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address with common housekeeping arrangements - that is, sharing at least one meal a day or sharing a living room or sitting room. In order to be included in the household, a person had to be a usual resident at the time of the census. Therefore, visitors to the household on Census Night were excluded, while usual residents temporarily absent (for less than 12 months) were included. A permanent private household is a private household occupying a permanent dwelling such as a house, flat or bed-sit. A temporary private household is a private household occupying a caravan, mobile home or other temporary dwelling.
A non-private household is a group of persons enumerated in a boarding house, hotel, guest house, hostel, barracks, hospital, nursing home, boarding school, religious institution, welfare institution, prison or ship. A non-private household may include usual residents and/or visitors. However, proprietors and managers of hotels, principals of boarding schools, persons in charge of various other types of institutions and members of staff who, with or without their families, occupy separate living accommodation on the premises are classified as private households.
Data on disability was derived from answers to Questions 15 and 16 of the census questionnaire. Question 15 was a seven-part question that asked about the existence of the following long lasting conditions: (a) blindness or a vision impairment, (b) deafness or a hearing impairment, (c) a difficulty with basic physical activities such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting or carrying, (d) an intellectual disability, (e) a difficulty with learning, remembering or concentrating, (f) a psychological or emotional condition or a mental health issue and (g) a difficulty with pain, breathing or any other chronic illness or condition. Respondents had the option to indicate that they did not have any of these long-lasting conditions, had one or more of them to some extent, or had one or more of them to a great extent.
Question 16 was a four-part question that asked whether an individual had a difficulty doing any of the following activities: (a) dressing, bathing or getting around inside the home (self-care disability), (b) going outside the home alone to shop or visit a doctor’s surgery (going outside the home disability), (c) working at a job or business or attending school or college (employment disability) and (d) participating in other activities, such as leisure or using transport. As with Question 15, respondents could indicate that they had no difficulty with any of these activities, that they had some difficulty or that they had a lot of difficulty.
Compared with the questions used in Census 2016, there was no filter between the two questions, meaning all persons were expected to answer Question 16 irrespective of how they responded to Question 15. Furthermore, following consultation with key stakeholders, it was decided to explicitly require difficulties caused by old age as part of Question 16 on day to day difficulties.
Persons who ticked at least one of the boxes for 'Yes, to some extent' in Q15 or 'Yes, a little' in Q16 but did not tick any of the 'Yes to a great extent' in Q15 or 'Yes, a lot' in Q16 were used as part of the calculation of the 'disability to some extent' rate. Persons who ticked at least one of the 'Yes, to a great extent' boxes in Q15 or 'Yes, a lot' boxes in Q16 were used as part of the calculation of the 'disability to a great extent' rate. Persons who ticked any of the 'Yes' boxes in Q15 or Q16 were included in the 'disability to any extent' rate.
Multiple questions that appeared on the Census 2016 form changed on the Census 2022 form following the consultation with users that took place between 2017 and 2019. These changes include alterations to text, question format and population cohorts required to respond to questions.
Changing questions can impact upon the response provided by the public. This, in turn, impacts upon the published census data. Data users should be conscious of this when comparing data between Census 2022 and previous censuses.
For some variables, CSO has drawn a direct comparison between Census 2022 data and data from previous censuses where questions have changed. This was done in order to provide context to data users, but the caveat above applies to these comparisons.
The key question changes between Census 2016 and Census 2022 that impact Profile 5 Diversity, Migration, Ethnicity, Irish Travellers & Religion are listed below. Full details of all of the changes and the rationale for them can be found at the following link which documents the user consultation process for Census 2022.
| Census 2022 Question | Census 2016 Question | Topic | Key Changes |
| 10 | 10 | Nationality/Country of Citizenship |
2016 question asks for nationality, 2022 question asks for country of citizenship. |
| 11 | 11 | Ethnic group |
2016 question asks for ethnicity, 2022 question asks for ethnic group or background. Response categories changed in 2022 question. |
| 12 | 12 | Religion |
2016 question asks 'What is your religion?’'. 2022 question asks 'What is your religion, if any?'. Response categories changed in 2022 question. 'No religion' is the first response option in 2022. |
| 15 & 16 | 16 & 17 | Long lasting conditions and difficulties |
Two response options for each category in 2016. Increased to three response options in 2022. Filter between questions in 2016 was removed in 2022. Question 16 in 2022 includes instruction to include issues due to old age. |
A number of new dual-citizenship categories have been included in the Census 2022 data that were not present in previous censuses. As a result, only Census 2022 data is available for these categories.
These categories would have been included in 'Irish-Other' in previous census results:
Citizens of Mayotte and Réunion have been included with the statistics for France. In 2016, these countries were included with Other Africa.
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha have been included with Great Britain. In 2016, they were included with Africa.
The following have been added to the list of countries used in the Census 2022 results:
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