The Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2011 was published on Thursday by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The Yearbook presents a comprehensive picture of Ireland today.

It provides detailed information, tables and graphs across a wide range of topics. These include the population, labour force, education, crime, the economy, agriculture, industry, services, prices, housing, knowledge economy and the environment.

The report says that the preliminary total for the population enumerated on census night 10 April 2011 was 4,581,269 persons, compared with 4,239,848 persons in April 2006, representing an increase of 8.1% in five years.

Irish society is becoming more diverse. 188 countries were represented in the non-Irish national population. However, 82% of these came from only 10 countries: UK, Poland, Lithuania, Nigeria, Latvia, US, China, Germany, Philippines and France.

The population of the area comprising the Republic of Ireland was over 6.5m as measured by the 1841 Census of Population. The deaths which resulted from the famine of 1846/47 and the large scale emigration which followed in its wake and which continued throughout the second half of the 19th century culminated in a halving of the population by 1901.

The CSO says the total number at work was just under 1.1m in 1985. By 1995 this had increased to just under 1.3m and then increased by over 830,000 between 1995 and 2008 to 2,112,800. Between 2008 and 2010 the total number at work fell by 253,700 to 1,859,100.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a measure of the value added generated in the production of goods and services in the economy. Over the years between 1970 and 2010, the value of GDP increased by a factor of over seventy. Increases in price levels played a major role in this increase but when the price effects are removed the increase was five fold.

The CSO says Gross National Product (GNP) is a better measure than GDP of the value added accruing to residents of the country. In Ireland, GNP is now considerably lower than GDP because of income flows to non-residents, especially profits and dividends of foreign
direct investment enterprises. GNP is now 82% of the value of GDP. In 1970, the reverse was the case with GNP higher, because of income flows to Irish residents from abroad. As a result of this turnaround, GNP growth has been somewhat slower than GDP growth.

Since 1970, real GNP has increased about four times. In the most recent year 2010, GNP increased by 0.3% following a decrease of 9.8% in the previous year. The growth in exports has been especially noticeable. Since 1970, the value of exports has increased twenty eight times in real terms. The other demand components making up GDP have increased to a lesser extent over the same period e.g. personal consumption and public expenditure about four times and investment about three times.

People

• The preliminary total for the population enumerated on census night 10 April 2011 was 4,581,269 persons, compared with 4,239,848 persons in April 2006, representing an increase of 8.1% in five years.

• There were 73,724 births registered in 2010, a decrease of 554 from 2009.

• The most popular babies’ names in 2010 were Jack and Sophie.

Work

• The number of persons in employment fell from 1.939m in 2009 to 1.859m in 2010.

• The number of persons unemployed in 2010 was 293,600 compared with 264,600 in 2009, an increase of 11%.

• The greatest decreases in average weekly earnings were recorded in the Human health and social work (-7.7%) and Professional and scientific and technical (-6.7%) sectors.

• Female average annual earnings were 72% of male earnings with females earning on average €33,932 as against €47,178 for males in 2009.

Economy and Finance

• In 2010, GNP in constant prices increased slightly (by 0.3%) compared with 2009. This follows a decrease of 9.8% in 2009 compared with the previous year.

• The General Government Balance was a record deficit of €49,599m in 2010 compared with a deficit of €22,694m in 2009.

• The average rate of inflation for 2010 was -1.0%, up from -4.5% in 2009.

• In 2010 the main export markets were the USA (23%), Great Britain (14%) and Belgium (14%). Imports were mainly from Great Britain (30%), the USA (14%), Germany (8%) and China (6%).

Social Conditions, Health and Education

• Social Welfare expenditure has increased from 8.0% of Gross National Product in 2000 to 16.7% in 2010.

• The number of people killed on the roads in 2009 was 238, down by 41 (14.7%) compared with the 2008 figure of 279.

• At age 19, 75% of females and 65% of males were in full-time education in 2009/10.

• Almost 29% of individuals reported to have experienced at least one form of enforced deprivation in 2009.

Building and Construction

• The volume of production in building and construction decreased by 30.1% between 2009 and 2010.

• The number of planning permissions granted for new dwellings decreased from 10,380 to 6,347 between 2009 and 2010, a fall of 38.9%.

Services and Distribution

• Motor Trade volume increased by 17.8% in 2010 compared with a decrease of 42.7% in the previous year.

• Retail sales increased by 0.9% in volume and decreased by 2.2% in value in 2010.

Agriculture and Environment

• Between 2000 and 2010 agricultural output prices rose by 15.3%, while input prices rose by 39.9%.

• In June 2010 there were 6.6m cattle, 4.6m sheep and 1.5m pigs.

• Greenhouse gas emissions (as measured in carbon dioxide equivalents) have decreased by 12.5% during the years 2001 to 2009 while acid rain precursor emissions (as measured in sulphur dioxide equivalents) have decreased by 35.6% during the period 2000 to 2009.

Crime

• In 2009, nearly 40% of burglaries were recorded in the Dublin Metropolitan Region.

• In 2010, over half of prisoners (50.3%) were aged 29 years and under.

Tourism and Transport

• Overseas trips to Ireland fell by 12.9% to 6,037,100 in 2010 compared to 2009.

• While Great Britain is by far our largest visitor market, the number of trips to Ireland from this location have fallen by nearly one third to 2,738,500 between 2006 and 2010.

• Driving tests conducted in 2009 totalled 125,823 and an overall pass rate of 48% was achieved.

• New private cars licensed for the first time in 2010 increased by 56% on the figures for 2009.