The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (26 October 2023) released Census 2022 Profile 5 – Diversity, Migration, Ethnicity, Irish Travellers and Religion. Profile 5 looks at the diversity of the population in Ireland, including country of citizenship, ethnic group or background and languages spoken. Recent migration in the year leading up to the census, Irish Travellers and religion are also covered. This press release highlights some of the main results for Galway. A full list of county press releases is available.
| Kathleen Goulding | (+353) 1 895 1413 |
|---|---|
| Tony Downes | (+353) 1 895 1319 |
| censuspublicity@cso.ie | |
| pressoffice@cso.ie |
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Statistician's Comment
Commenting on the results, Brendan Murphy, Statistician in the Census Division, said: “Profile 5 provides detailed information on the range of citizenships among the Irish population, including breakdowns by age and sex as well as by county and town. It shows the recent immigration to Ireland and migration within Ireland. There was a 9% increase on the number of people moving to Ireland in the year leading up to Census date 3 April 2022 compared with the same period in 2016 to over 89,500 people. This wide-ranging profile also considers the various ethnic backgrounds of our population, including details on the age, sex and citizenship of different groups. It looks at our Traveller population in 2022, including breakdowns by sex and household type. It also provides details of the religious composition of the Irish population in April 2022.”
Some highlights for Galway
Citizenship
In Galway non-Irish citizens accounted for 11% of the population. Among the non-Irish residents in Galway City, the largest group were Polish citizens (2,597 people), followed by Indian (1,392) and the UK (1,137). In Galway County the largest group were UK citizens (3,582) followed by Polish (2,914 people) and Brazilian (1,058). Nationally there were more than 631,000 non-Irish citizens, which was 12% of the population. The number of dual-Irish residents, which is when you are a citizen of two countries at the same time, in the county increased from 6,235 in 2016 to 10,887 in 2022. In Galway City, the largest dual-Irish citizenships were Irish-US (895 people) and Irish-UK (590). In Galway County, the largest dual-Irish citizenships were also Irish-US (2,203 people) and Irish-UK (1,577). There were more than 170,500 dual-Irish residents in Ireland in Census 2022.
Immigration
There were 5,470 people living in Galway City in April 2022 who had moved to the city in the year before the census. This included 2,887 people who had moved from elsewhere within Ireland, and 2,583 people from outside the State. A further 5,299 people had moved within the city in the year before the census. There were 4,083 people living in Galway County in April 2022 who had moved to the county in the year before the census. This included 1,961 people who had moved from elsewhere within Ireland, and 2,122 people from outside the State. A further 6,243 people had moved within the county in the year before the census.
Ethnic Group/Background
Almost 211,500 people living in Galway in April 2022 had a White Irish ethnic group or background. A further 25,027 people identified as Any other White. There were 4,627 people whose ethnic group/background was Asian or Asian Irish - Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi and 3,110 people with a Black or Black Irish – African ethnic group/background.
Irish Travellers
There were 4,257 Travellers in Galway in Census 2022, including 1,748 Travellers recorded in Galway City and 2,509 in Galway County. This was up slightly from the 4,246 Travellers recorded in 2016 (+0.3%). The Traveller population included 2,186 females and 2,071 males. There were 32,949 Travellers in Ireland, compared with 30,987 in 2016 (+6%). This included 16,777 females and 16,172 males
Religion
In Census 2022 more than 199,000 people in the county were Catholic (68%). This was down from 80% in Census 2016. Nationally, 69% stated they were Catholic, compared with 78% in 2016. The other most common religions in Galway included Church of Ireland (with 4,547 people), Islam (3,699) and Orthodox (3,548). More than 39,300 people stated that they did not have a religion, which was up from 26,300 in Census 2016, up 49%. They made up 16% of the county’s population, compared with 10% in 2016.