Meath one of fastest growing counties with 13 per cent population increase

The Census 2022 results show that Meath was one of the fastest growing counties in the country with the population growing by 13 per cent in six years.

The population of Ireland increased to 5,149,139, an eight per cent increase between 2016 and 2022 and in Meath, the population increased to 220,826.

It is the first time in 171 years that Ireland's population exceeded the five million threshold.

The Central Statistics Office published the Census 2022 Summary Results, which provide high level data on all areas of Census 2022, last week. The census had been delayed by a year because of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Nationally Census 2022 showed an increase in the average age of the population, the number of people with dual Irish citizenship and in the number with a broadband connection,

There has been a drop from in the number of people who reported their health was good or very good and in those identifying as Catholic.

Approximately a third of all workers work from home for at least some part of their week.

Of Meath’s population, 110,838 were female and 109,988 were male, which means there were 99 males for every 100 females. In Ireland overall, there were 2,604,590 females and 2,544,549 males or 98 males for every 100 females.

The average age of Meath’s population in April 2022 was 36.9 years, compared with 35.2 years in April 2016. Nationally, the average age of the population was 38.8, up from 37.4 in April 2016.

The number of people aged 65 and over continues to grow. This age group increased by 30 per cent to 27,059 in Meath and by 22 per cent to 776,315 at a national level since 2016.

In Meath, the number of dual Irish citizens increased from 4,322 to 7,865 while non-Irish citizens accounted for 11per cent of the county’s population. Nationally, dual Irish citizenship increased by 63 per cent from 104,784 to 170,597 people and non-Irish citizens made up 12 per cent of the population

The proportion of separated and divorced people in Meath remains steady at six per cent of the population (aged 15 and over), the same as in 2016. The national comparison was six per cent in both 2022 and 2016.

In 2022, 87per cent of people in Meath stated that their health was good or very good compared with 90per cent in 2016. Nationally, 83per cent of people stated that their health was good/very good, compared to 87 per cent in 2016.

The number of people (aged three and over) who stated that they could speak Irish in Meath was 80,822 compared with 71,763 in 2016. Within this figure, 2,594 said they spoke Irish daily while 4,725 spoke Irish weekly. Nationally, 1,873,997 people stated they were able to speak Irish, with 71,968 speaking Irish daily and 115,065 speaking it weekly.

There were 101,189 people (aged 15 and over) at work in Meath, an increase of 17,930 people (22 per cent) between 2016 and 2022. Nationally, there were 313,656 additional people (16 per cent) at work.

In Meath, 32,539 people (aged 15 and over) worked from home at least one day a week in 2022.This represented 32 per cent of the workforce. The national figure was 32 per cent.

Childcare was a new question for Census 2022. There were 50,232 children aged 15 and under in Meath in April 2022. Of these, 16,214 (32 per cent) were in childcare, compared with 33per cent nationally.

In 2022, 75 per cent of households in Meath owned their own home, with a further 20 per cent renting. This compared with 66 per cent of households owning their home nationally and 28 per cent renting.

In Meath, 19 per cent of households wrote a message in the Time Capsule. Nationally, this figure was 19 per cent.

Commenting on the results, Cormac Halpin, Senior Statistician in the Census Division, said: “Census 2022 results provide us with unique and valuable insights into the Ireland that we live in today.

"Looking at the results at a county level, Census 2022 shows that the population of Meath grew by 13per cent to 220,826, which means the number of people in the county rose by 25,782 between April 2016 and April 2022. Over the same period, Ireland's population grew by eight per cent from 4,761,865 to 5,149,139.”

“The publication of Census 2022 results could not have been achieved without the overwhelmingly positive response from the public and we thank everyone who completed their census form on 03 April 2022. We would also like to thank everyone involved in the Census 2022 campaign culminating in today’s successful publication of the results.”