Press Release

Press Statement - Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2004 

Ireland’s population has increased by almost one million in the thirty years since 1973 while the number of persons at work has increased by just over 50% since 1993, up from under 1.2 million to nearly 1.8 million in 2003. These are among some of the more striking of the many facts contained in the Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2004, published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The Yearbook presents a comprehensive picture of Ireland today. It provides detailed information, tables and graphs across a wide range of topics. These include the population, labour force, education, justice, the economy, agriculture, industry, services, prices, housing, and even the weather!

The 2004 Yearbook also contains a chapter documenting Ireland’s economic and social change from 1973-2003 to mark thirty years membership of the European Union.

The Yearbook also shows that GNP increased by an annual average of 2.2 per cent in the last two years, in contrast to average growth of 7.7 per cent in real terms in the previous eight years. Since 1990 the national debt as a percentage of GDP has fallen from 87.7 per cent to 27.9 per cent in 2003.

In addition, did you know that?

People

• Males born in 2002 can expect to live 75.1 years and females 80.3 years.
• Births outside marriage accounted for 31% of all births in 2002 compared with 6% twenty years earlier.
• The most popular babies’ names in 2003 were Seán and Emma.

Work

• Between 1983 and 2003 the number of persons unemployed decreased from 180,800 to 82,100.
• By 2003, almost two thirds of those in employment worked in the Services sector.

Economy

• The General Government Balance was in surplus by €192m in 2003 compared with a deficit of €296m in 2002.
• Social Welfare expenditure fell, in relative terms, from 11.2% of Gross National Income (GNI) in 1994 to 7.5% in 2000 but has since risen to 9.3% in 2003.

Housing

• The number of new houses granted planning permission was 67% higher in 2003 than in 1997. In the same period, planning permissions for new apartments more than trebled.
• Home ownership in Ireland remains very high with over 75% of private dwellings in the State being owner occupied in 2003.
• Of the 244,800 householders in owner-occupied dwellings purchased since 1996, 24% had monthly mortgage repayments in excess of €600 in the third quarter of 2003.
• Almost 50% of house purchasers between 1996 and 2003 were first time buyers.

Tourism

• Visits abroad by Irish residents are up 30% since 2000.
• New private cars licensed for the first time in 2003 were down by 5% on the figures for 2002.
• Driving tests conducted in 2002 totalled 148,983 – an overall pass rate of 54% was achieved.

General

• The price of Energy products increased by 6.2% in 2003.
• Greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 29% over the period 1990-2002.

CSO thanks all the other departments and bodies who have helped in supplying data for the Yearbook, including those in Northern Ireland who have provided material for the Appendix.

The full text of these results is available free of charge

The Yearbook 2004 may be purchased from:

The Central Statistics Office, Information Section, Skehard Road, Cork
Government Publications Sales Office, Sun Alliance House, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 or through any bookseller

For further information, contact Eamonn Dorney (021 - 4535036) Fax 021 4535555 e-mail: information@cso.ie

26th October 2004