Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2014

The Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2014 is published today 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. This year the yearbook is being produced in electronic format only for the first time. We hope this will make it more interactive for users and provide easier access to more detailed data when it is required. The CSO wishes to thank all the departments, agencies and individuals who have helped in supplying data for the Yearbook.

People

• Marriages by civil ceremony made up 29.5% of the 20,680 marriages registered in 2013.

• There were 68,930 births registered in 2013. This was a decrease of 3,295 from 72,225 births registered in 2012. Almost 37% of births were to mothers between ages 30-34.

• The most popular babies’ names in 2013 were Jack and Emily. These two have held top spot for the last three years, with Jack at number one since 2007.

• The number of persons in employment increased from 1.836 million in 2012 to 1.870 million in 2013.

• The number of persons unemployed in 2013 was 300,700 compared with 323,000 in 2012, a decrease of 6.9%.

Society 

• There were 295.6 incidents of assault and 612.9 of burglary, per 100,000 population recorded in 2012. The state detection rate for assault was 65.2%.

• Environmental taxes accounted for 8.4% of Ireland’s total tax revenues in 2012. Energy taxes accounted for just over €2.5 billion of this.

• Holiday accommodation and other travel arrangements accounted for 54% of purchases made online in 2013. Tickets for events were purchased online by 33% of those in the 16-29 age bracket in comparison to 9% of those in the 60-74 age group.

• Weekly household disposable income in 2012 was €776.26, a decline of 3.1% on the 2011 value. Household disposable income peaked in 2008 at €939.89 and decreased by 17.4% between 2008 and 2012.

Business

• In 2013 46% of enterprises stated that they used social networks such as Facebook to connect with customers.

• The volume of industrial production decreased by 1.3% in 2013 with Computer, electronic and optical products decreasing by 14.6%. Over the period 2009 – 2013 Industrial production volumes increased by 4.9% with Chemicals, chemical products and man-made fibres increasing by 16%.

• Output in total building and construction increased by 11.3% in 2013 when compared with 2012. In 2013 there was an annual increase of 11.4% in the number of houses granted planning permission.

Economy

• General Government experienced a deficit of €9,967 million (5.7% of GDP) in 2013 - an improvement on the 2012 position of €13,901 million (8.0% of GDP). Government revenue increased from €56,653 million in 2009 to €60,837 million in 2013 driven mainly by increased tax and social contribution revenues.

• In 2013 there were just over 2 million credit cards in issue in Ireland compared with 2.38 million in 2008. Over the same period outstanding indebtedness on credit cards decreased from €3.13m to €2.4m.

• Exports of chemicals and related products accounted for 58% of total exports in 2013. Imports of food and live animals have increased by 32% in the four year period 2010-2013.

• Average weekly earnings in Q4 2013 ranged from a high of €1,002.93 in the Information and communication sector to a low of €316.12 in the Accommodation and food service sector.

Tourism & Transport

• Irish residents made almost 6.6 million trips out of the country in 2013, 85% of which were to other EU countries. The majority of domestic trips were made either for holidays or to visit friends and relatives. The average length of stay for a domestic holiday was 3.4 nights while a visit to friends or relatives lasted an average of 2.5 nights.

• There were 71,348 new private cars licensed in the year to the end of December 2013, a fall of 6.4% compared to the same period in 2012.

Agriculture

• The total area farmed in 2013 was 4.5 million hectares. Crops, fruit and horticulture accounted for 8% of that area, silage for 24%, hay for 5%, pasture for 52% and rough grazing for 11%.

• In June 2013 there were 6.9 million cattle, 5.1 million sheep and 1.6 million pigs.

• In 1853 there were 639,000 hectares and 279,000 hectares under oats and potatoes respectively. Since then there has been a decline of over 95% in both those areas with the 2013 figures standing at 27,000 hectares for oats and 11,000 hectares for potatoes.

For further information:

Contact Ken Kennedy on (tel) 021-4535036, (fax) 021-4535555 or email information@cso.ie

Central Statistics Office                                                               6th November 2014

– ENDS –