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 number of people completing their census form in each household builds an overall picture on the average size of households at national and county level. Marital status describes a person's relationship status at the time of the census.
The Census 2022 time capsule was introduced to give people completing their census form an opportunity to record a message for future generations. The time capsules will be stored securely for 100 years and released to the public in 2122.
Of the 1.8 million occupied private households enumerated during Census 2022, 348,443 (19%) completed the time capsule.
Cork (county and city combined) returned the largest number of Census forms with a completed time capsule (41,669), followed by Dublin City (40,857).
The completion rate by county ranged from 16% to 21%.
At 21%, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the highest completion rate followed by Wicklow, Kildare, Mayo and Leitrim (20%).
Census data allows us to plot the changing size of the average household in Ireland over time, which can be a reflection of a wide range of social dynamics. The average household size is the number of people in private dwellings as a proportion of the number of occupied dwellings.
Census 2022 recorded 1,841,152 private occupied dwellings and 5,046,681 people in private households.
In 2022, there were on average 2.74 people per private household.
This is a small decrease compared with the 2016 average, which stood at 2.75.
In 2011, there were on average 2.73 people per private household.
Between 2016 and 2022, Galway City recorded the largest increase in average household size (2.58 to 2.62), followed by Laois which increased from 2.87 to 2.90.
Westmeath, Carlow, Longford recorded small increases in average household size between 2016 and 2022.
During the census period 2016 to 2022, there was no change in average household size in Dublin City, Leitrim, Roscommon, Limerick, Cavan, Galway County and Offaly.
All other administrative counties recorded decreases in average household size during the census period 2016 to 2022.
Kerry, Donegal, South Dublin and Kildare recorded the largest decreases in average household size between 2016 and 2022.
Average household size ranged from 2.48 people in Dublin City to 3.02 people in Fingal and Meath.
In general, higher average sizes were recorded in the east of the country with lower sizes in the west.
The marital status question gives us an understanding of the number of people who were single, in marriages or partnerships, separated, divorced or widowed.
The percentage of people aged 15 years and over who were single increased from 41% in 2016 to 43% in 2022.
Married people, including those who were re-married, and people in a same-sex civil partnership, accounted for 46% of the population aged 15 years and over, down from 48% six years previously.
The percentage of people who were separated or divorced remained stable at 6%.
Of all people aged 15 years and over, 44% were in their first marriage, this was down from 46% in 2016.
Key differences in marital status among males and females.
Among single people, there were more men (52%) than women (48%).
The number of men who were remarried (41,449) was greater than the number of women (33,115) with the same marital status.
In 2022, the number of women separated increased by 507 to 67,070.
Approximately 4% of women aged 15 and over were divorced.
There can be interesting differences in people's marital status when examined county by county.
Explore census data from county level to neighbourhood (Small Area) level
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