Small Area Population Statistics are statistics produced for a range of geographical levels from State to Small Areas. Small area data can be accessed through our Interactive Mapping Tool or through data tables at https://data.cso.ie/. Small area data can also be downloaded as csv files.
Use the map to explore detailed census data for a selected area. The application allows users to find their location of interest by searching for an address/area or by pinpointing a location on the map. There is also an option to see the data at various geographical levels, by selecting the boundary type. A user guide is available on the Census Mapping Resources page.
There are 48 Small Area Population Statistics (SAPS) tables organised in the following themes.
SAPS data can be downloaded below in csv format. The corresponding boundaries can be downloaded from the Tailte Éireann - National Mapping Division Open Data Portal at the links below. Generalised versions of the boundary files are also available on the Portal.
A glossary of table variables is available here SAPS 2022 Glossary (XLS 34KB) and in Irish, Staidrimh Daonra um Cheantair Bheaga - Gluais SDCB 2022 (XLS 36KB) .
1Includes Urban Rural Classification
SAPS data for all of the above geography levels is also available in a single file, Complete set of Census 2022 SAPs (ZIP 16,595KB) .
Small Areas were first published for Census 2011 following work undertaken by the National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA) on behalf of Ordnance Survey Ireland (now Tailte Éireann) and in consultation with the CSO. They were designed as the lowest level of geography for the compilation of statistics in line with data protection guidelines and typically contain between 50 and 200 dwellings. A further constraint imposed when creating these new areas was that they nested within Electoral Division boundaries. Finally, they are generally comprised either of complete townlands or neighbourhoods.
Census 2022 Small Areas have been redrawn to ensure they remain consistent with the principle of data protection and are relatively comparable in size. This redraw was necessary following changes in population size and distribution between 2016 and 2022 and was done by the CSO with support from Tailte Éireann.
Electoral Divisions are the smallest legally defined administrative areas in the State. Previously known as District Electoral Divisions (DEDs)2, they were initially subdivisions of poor law unions, grouping one or more townlands together to elect members to a Board of Guardians. The DED boundaries were drawn by a Poor Law Boundary Commission, with the intention of producing areas of roughly equal 'rateable value' as well as population. EDs are mostly contiguous but may bear little relation to natural community boundaries.
There are 3,441 legally defined EDs in the State. However, in order to render them suitable for production of statistics, the CSO has amended some ED boundaries to ensure that statistical disclosure does not occur. This has had the effect of amalgamating some EDs and splitting others. The amending of the Cork City and Cork County boundaries necessitated a redrawing of Electoral Division boundaries within Cork to ensure all EDs in the county were suitable for production of statistical data. For Census 2022, the CSO is publishing data for 3,420 Electoral Divisions.
2The term District Electoral Division was changed to Electoral Division by Section 23 of the Local Government Act, 1994 with effect from 24 June 1996 (S.I. 196 of 1996 refers).
For Census 2016, census towns which previously combined legal towns and their environs were newly defined using the standard census town criteria (with the 100 metres proximity rule). For some towns, the impact of this was to lose area and population compared with previous computations.
Following Census 2016, the CSO, Ordnance Survey Ireland (now Tailte Éireann) and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage began collaborating on a new type of urban geography that would be used to define towns for the census. The result of this collaboration was the introduction of Built Up Areas (BUAs). One of the key advantages to BUAs for statistical data production is that their boundaries are contiguous with Small Area boundaries which eliminates the possibility of statistical disclosure. This entails that BUAs entirely nest within Small Areas.
There is more information on BUAs in the Census 2022 Urban Boundaries and Built Up Areas information pages.
For the purposes of Local Authority elections, each county and city is divided into Local Electoral Areas (LEAs) which are constituted on the basis of Orders made under the Local Government Act, 1941. Statutory Instruments 610-638 of 2018 and 6-8, 27-28, 156-157 of 2019 state the current composition of LEAs and their subsequent amalgamation into Municipal Districts.
In general, LEAs are formed by aggregating Electoral Divisions. However, in a number of cases, Electoral Divisions are split between LEAs and in order to render them suitable for production of statistics, the CSO has amended some LEA boundaries to ensure that statistical disclosure does not occur. As a result of these amendments, Census 2022 LEAs are comprised of whole Census 2022 Electoral Divisions.
A six-way urban/rural classification was first published following Census 2016 and applied to Small Area (SAs) . The six-way urban/rural classification is based on population density and the characteristics of the places of work of the usual residents.
Urban areas are classified based on the proportion of people in employment in cities while rural areas are subdivided based on the proportion of usual residents in employment in urban areas (see Urban and rural classification rules table below)
A new urban geography called Built Up Areas (BUAs) has been used to produce Census 2022 data for towns/urban areas. The BUAs, which combine small areas, were developed from clusters of urban development and their boundaries reflect urban land use.
This classification has been updated for 2022 Small areas: FY107 Population Usually Resident and Present in the State by Type of Urban or Rural Area and CSO Small Areas 2022
| Type | Definition | |
| Urban areas | Cities | Cities with populations greater than 50,000 - using Census 2022 definitions/breakdowns. |
|---|---|---|
| Satellite Urban Towns | Towns/Urban areas with populations between 1,500 and 49,999, where 20 percent or more of the usually resident employed population's workplace address is in 'Cities'. | |
| Independent urban towns | Towns/Urban areas with populations between 1,500 and 49,999, where less than 20 percent of the usually resident employed population's workplace address is in 'Cities'. | |
| Rural areas | Rural areas with high urban influence | Rural areas (themselves defined as having an area type with a population less than 1,500 persons, as per Census 2022) are allocated to one of three sub-categories, based on their dependence on urban areas. Again, employment location is the defining variable. The allocation is based on resident employed adults of a rural Small Area who work in the three standard categories of urban area (for simplicity the methodology uses main, secondary and minor urban area). The total working in each urban area were weighted through the use of multipliers. The multipliers allowed for the increasing urbanisation for different sized urban areas. For example, the number of rural people working in a main urban area had double the impact of the same number working in a minor urban area. The weighting acknowledges the impact that a large urban centre has on its surrounding area. The adopted weights for: Main Urban areas is 2. Satellite urban communities is 1.5. Independent urban communities is 1. The weighted number of workers are divided into tercile to assign one of the three rural breakdowns. |
| Rural areas with moderate urban influence | As above. | |
| Highly rural/remote areas | As above. |