County's population continues to rise

Census 2011 has shown that Meath was one of the fastest growing counties in the country with a population increase of 13.1 per cent since the 2006 Census There are now 184,135 people living in the county, up from 162,831 five years previously. Meath recorded the fifth largest population increase in the country, behind Laois, Cavan, Fingal and Longford. In the previous census results, Meath's population had risen by 21 per cent. There are now more females than males in the county, a turnaround from the previous census, with 91,910 males and 92,225 females now residing in Meath. The female population grew by 15 per cent while the male population grew by 11.2 per cent since 2006. There are 96,878 single people in Meath, 73,601 who are married, 4,653 are separated, 3,173 are divorced and 5,830 are widowed. Census results show that Meath has the most people per household in the country at 2.96 per household. Meath also has one of the youngest populations with the average age being 33.8 years. To read full results for Meath, see this week's Meath Chronicle.