Ireland and Northern Ireland – A joint Census Publication 2021-2022

A joint publication produced by Central Statistics Office and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency compares and contrasts key information gleaned from the Census of Population in Northern Ireland (undertaken in 2021) and the Census of Population in Ireland (undertaken in 2022 – the Census in Ireland was delayed by a year due to the COVID- 19 pandemic).

Some of the key findings include:

• In 2022, the population of the island of Ireland stood at 7.1 million people, an increase of 26%, or 1.5 million people, over the 20 years since 2002. This was the first time the population on the island of Ireland exceeded 7 million people since 1851.
• In the twenty years between 2002 and 2022 the population in Ireland increased by 31% and by 13% in Northern Ireland.
• Northern Ireland had a higher proportion of people aged 65 years and over (18%) compared with Ireland (15%).
• In Ireland, 86% of the population identified as White, compared with 97% in Northern Ireland.
• Ireland had a higher proportion of residents born outside the country at 20%, compared with 13% in Northern Ireland.
• There were almost 2.5 million people aged 16 and over in the labour force in Ireland and more than 891,000 people in the labour force in Northern Ireland.
• There were 7,777 people travelling from Ireland to work in Northern Ireland and there were 10,541 people travelling to work in the opposite direction from Northern Ireland to Ireland.

The publication is presented using a series of interactive charts and tables, and can be accessed here.

Infographic kindly produced by Central Statistics Office and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency