The Central Statistics Office today released the latest publication in its series of Census 2011 results, showing that the population of pre-school children aged 0-4 increased by 17.9 per cent in the past five years taking it to 356,329 in April 2011, while the number of young adults aged 19-24 has decreased by 12 per cent, the only age group to show a fall in numbers.
The average age of the population of the state as a whole increased by half a year to 36.1 years since 2006. In 2011 the population of almost all counties showed an increase, topped by Limerick city where the average age increased by 1.5 years. However a few counties had a younger population than in 2006 with the average age in Laois falling by half a year, and Cavan and Longford both showing slight decreases.
Pre-school children
The number of pre-school children (aged 0-4) in the State increased by 17.9 per cent compared to overall population growth of 8.2 per cent. In County Laois this age group increased by 37.1 per cent, the largest increase for any county, followed by Cavan with an increase of 30.2 per cent.
The number of pre-school children living in flats and apartments stood at 25,317 an increase of 50.3 per cent since 2006, while the number living in rented properties has also increased significantly from 77,909 in 2006 to 122,782 in 2011, accounting for 34.7 per cent of all pre-school children in 2011.
Primary School Children
There were just over half a million children in the 5-12 year age group, an increase of 12 per cent since 2006. County Laois experienced the highest growth in this age group with an increase of 28.9 per cent followed by Fingal (28.3%). There was a decrease in this age group in Limerick city of 9.4 per cent and in Cork city (7.9%).
Secondary School Children
The population of secondary school children (aged 13-18) remained almost static over the past five years increasing by less than 1 per cent to stand at 344,931 in April 2011. The highest growth rate was in counties Laois and Kildare with 10.3 per cent, while almost half of all counties experienced a decrease in numbers in this age group.
Young Adults
While the majority of young adults, categorized as those aged 19-24, still lived at home with one or both parents, the percentage in this category increased from 59 per cent to 66 per cent.
Adults
There was an increasing trend for people in the age group 25-64 to live in rented accommodation over the past decade with over 675,000 people in this age group renting their accommodation in 2011, an increase of 51.4 per cent since 2006 when just under 450,000 of this age group were renting.
Elderly
The population of elderly people, aged 65 or over, increased by 14.4 per cent while the number of persons aged 100 or over was recorded as 389 – an increase of 100 persons on 2006.
The number of elderly persons usually resident in nursing homes was 20,802 while the number of elderly recorded as being usually resident in hospitals across the country was 4,873.
For more indepth information you can go to the CSO website
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