employment include ICT, Medical services, Pharma, Public Administration and Care/Social Work and top occupations
include science, research, engineering and technology professionals, elementary administration and service occupations,
administrative occupations, business, media, and public service professionals. Cork City residents over the age of 15 are
more likely to have a third level qualification and a degree or higher (30%) than the State as a whole (28%). Some 38% of
the 83,328 households live in rented accommodation which is significantly higher than the national average (28%) Cork is
a diverse city with 1 in 5 of the City’s population born outside Ireland and 15% of people aged 15+ in Cork City stating their
citizenship to be outside Ireland, with Poland accounting for the highest share. Some 73% of households have no
renewable energy source (Ireland 66%). The share of those working from home, at 35%, is higher than the national average
of 32%.
Population and demographics
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 seventh largest Council in Ireland 7 .
Economic & Enterprise Development
The South-West 8 region to which Cork City belongs boasts a remarkably high contribution (25%) to the entire Gross Value Added of the economy 9 . This is dominated by activity that is proximate to the city and which influences its economy significantly and is critical to maxmising its high economic potential. This point is elaborated more below in the analysis of the profile of enterprise within the city.
The Median Income in Cork city and county combined as of 2022 stood at €42,764, some 2.2% above the national average.
Over half (55%) of people in Cork City over the age of 15 are at work.
An interesting feature of the city is that fewer people are in work of those aged 15-64 at 65% as against 67% for the state.
Labour force participation is at 60%, slightly below 61.2 for the state and the unemployment rate as defined by Census definitions stands at 8%, just below 8.3 for the state. 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 10 .
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 employment include ICT, Medical services, Pharma, Public Administration and Care/Social Work and top
7 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). 88 The Southwest region is defined by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and comprises of Cork and Kerry combined (both rural and urban areas). 9 Data is for 2020, the latest available period for this variable. 10 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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