Demographics

Given they accounted for 78.3 per cent of the total population in 2016, the demographic profile of Roman Catholics resembles very closely that of the general population.

The average age amongst Roman Catholics was slightly older than that for the general population at 38.2 compared with 37.4. Among females the average age was 39.0 compared with 38.0 generally, while for males the average age was 37.4 compared with 36.7 for the entire male population.

In 2016, there were 978 males for every 1,000 females for the general population, while amongst Catholics it was lower at 942. 

Figure 5.1 illustrates the change in the age structure of Catholics between 2006 and 2016, to depict the change over 10 years.

 

Interactive table: StatBank Link E8066

Lower percentage of Roman Catholics across all age groups in Dublin compared with rest of the country

Of the total 3,729,115 Roman Catholics enumerated on Census Night, 24.9 per cent were in Dublin. 

The percentage of the population who were Catholic was lower in Dublin across all the age groups compared to the rest of the country, as illustrated in Figure 5.2.

The largest percentage difference at an individual age group was in the 25-29 year olds. Catholics in Dublin, in this age group, accounted for 54 per cent of the population compared with 72.6 per cent for the rest of the country (a difference of 18.6% was recorded).

The age group 80-84 had the small difference with 89.6 per cent and 91.9 per cent for in Dublin and the rest of the country respectively (a difference of 2.3%).

Interactive table: StatBank Link E8055

Divorce rate rises amongst Catholics

There were 73,208 divorced Catholics in Ireland in April 2016 of which 29,900 were males and 43,308 were females.

The divorce rate amongst Roman Catholics was 4.1 per cent in 2016 up from 3.6 percent in 2011. This was lower than the rate for the state as a whole at 4.7 percent in 2016. The divorce rate is here defined as the number of divorced people as a percentage of those who were ever married.    

Interactive table: StatBank Link E8067

The proportion of Roman Catholics born abroad remains steady at just over 1 in 8

The percentage of Catholics born outside the country have increased in recent years, growing from 7.2 per cent in 2002 to 12.0 per cent in 2011, remaining the same in 2016.

In County Dublin, the proportion stood at 13.4 per cent in 2016, up from 12.9 per cent in 2011 while outside Dublin, 11.5 per cent of Catholics were born outside Ireland (down from 11.8 per cent in 2011).