Census 2022 Key Statistics

On December 5^th, 2023, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published Census 2022 Profile 7 - Employment, Occupations and Commuting. Amongst the key findings the CSO noted was that the Unemployment Rate was 8% in April 2022, five percentage points lower than Census 2016, and eleven percentage points lower than Census 2011.

In Census 2022 information on unemployment comes from how people responded to Question 28: how would they describe their principal status? People were asked to tick one of the replies below:

1. Working for payment or profit
2. Looking for first regular job
3. Short-term unemployed (less than 12 months)
4. Long-term unemployed (12 months or more)
5. Student or pupil
6. Looking after home / family
7. Retired from employment
8. Unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability
9. Other, and here people were also asked to write in their reply

Looking at question two from an age and gender perspective. The unemployment rate for young men was 7.9% and for young women 6.7%. The unemployment rate in the Census is calculated as the number of people unemployed, or looking for their first job, as a proportion of all people in the age group who were either at work, unemployed or looking for their first job. Unsurprisingly, for this question the percentages dropped for older age groups.

The age profile / spread for people who identified themselves as short-term unemployed was different. Again the highest rates were found amongst people aged 15-24 years, 5.3% for men and 4.9% for women. The female unemployment rate was higher amongst the older age groups, for example people aged 55-64 years, the female unemployment rate was 2.7% in comparison to 2.4% for men.  

The unemployment rate for people who identified as long-term unemployed was higher amongst older people. The age group with the highest unemployment rate were people aged 55-64 years, with a male rate of 6.1% and a female rate of 5.5%. The female unemployment rate was higher than the male rate of people aged 65 years and more: 3.9% in comparison to 2.6%.

On October 26^th, 2023 the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published Census 2022 Profile 5 - Diversity, Migration, Ethnicity, Irish Travellers & Religion. Amongst the key findings was that the “number of usually resident Irish Travellers increased by 6% to 32,949. Looking at the overall population, 15% were aged 65 years and over compared with just 5% of Irish Travellers.”

The following table looks at the Principal Economic Status questions for two perspectives: the overall population and Irish Travellers. In 2022, the overall or national unemployment rate was 8%, while the unemployment rate for Travellers it was 61%. As a matter of urgency Ireland must commit to addressing the scale of the socio-economic exclusion Travellers experience. 

On September 28^th, 2023 the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published Census 2022 Profile 4 - Disability, Health and Carers. Under the heading Disability and Everyday Living the CSO covers a range of issues including Work, Unemployment and Long-Lasting Conditions and Difficulties.

The CSO notes that “Some 34% of people aged 15 years and over with a long-lasting condition or difficulty experienced to any extent were at work.” The unemployment rate for this group of people was 13.4% - 14.3% for men and 12.5% for women.

While for “Some 17% of people aged 15 years and over with a long-lasting condition or difficulty experienced to a great extent were at work.” The unemployment rate for this group was 22% - 23.8% for men and 20.1% for women.

And for “Some 44% of people aged 15 years and over with a long-lasting condition or difficulty experienced to some extent were at work.” The unemployment rate for this group was 11.2% - 11.9% for men and 10.5% for women.

Further information on the Census 2022 reports published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) are available linked here.