Data
In compliance with the 2021 LECP guidelines and Local Government Reform Act of 2014, this analysis draws most of its
underlying data from the results of Census 2022, whose results were published between June and December of 2023.
In some cases, 3 , where data is not available to 2022, the most recent available data is used. Some data is provided for
more recent trends during 2023. This latter point is deemed particularly important in the light of a changing situation for
domestic business in the city.
Analysis based on Census 2022 dominates the foregoing analysis as is most relevant given that this data is well designed
to assess medium to long term trends since previous census periods and offers the most cohesive framework for evaluating
the progress of this LECP when the next census is conducted in 2027. The 2022 census data represented in this socio-
economic analysis looks at the city as a whole and does not represent the high degree of variability across the city.
Importantly, averages from the 2016 Census were based on a much smaller city, before the boundary extension. Also, the
2022 small area data and more local profiles will be published by Cork City Council in the coming year and will be
considered when reviewing the LECP action plan in two years’ time. Until then, we are relying on the small area data from
the 2016 census which features in the full Socio-Economic analysis and looks closely at different areas of the city, namely
RAPID areas.
High Level Summary 4 According to Census 2022 the population of Cork City stood at 224,004 in April 2022. This equates to 4.4% of national total
and makes Cork City the 7 th
largest Council in Ireland 5 . It has a lower age dependency ratio than Ireland (45.8% vs. 53.2%)
driven in large part by a significantly lower younger people (under 15) age dependency ratio (24.1% vs. 30.1%). There is a
higher (9.3%) share of older people (65+) living alone than in the state (8.4%). Also, almost one quarter (24%) of
households are one person households. This demographic strength is enhanced by a Labour force participation rate close
to the State average 60% (61.2% in the state as a whole) and an unemployment rate that is lower at 8% compared to 8.3% in the state 6 . Male participation rate remains significantly higher at 66% than the 55% recorded for females. In terms of
the occupational profile of Cork City’s workforce the largest group is non-manual workers (45%), and, within that category,
the share of professionals is significantly higher than the national average (13.5% compared to 9.5%) . Key sectors of
3 Gross Value-Added statistics cited for the South-West region are only available up to the year 2020. 4 Please note that these high-level points are in some cases replicated/repeated further below in the introduction to more specific analytical sections. 5 This compares with a Dublin City Council area of 592,713 and a population of 1,263,319 in Dublin city and suburbs combined. By contrast, Berlin’s population of 3,426,354 million compares with a population of 1,739,177 million for Germany’s second largest city, Hamburg, and Paris’ population of 2.1 million contrasts with a population of 794,811 for France’s second largest city Marseille. Source World Population Review (2024). 6 Note that Census definitions of unemployment result in measures that are higher than the Monthly Unemployment Rate series published by the CSO. The latter recorded a national rate of 4.9% as of December 2023. The Census 2022 data is shown above for consistency with use of Census 2022 for other data.
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