This publication is part of a series of results from Census 2022. More thematic publications will be published throughout 2023 as outlined in the Census 2022 Publication Schedule.
In this release, the term disability refers to people who experienced long-lasting conditions or difficulties. In Census 2022, the two questions on long-lasting conditions and difficulties were revised. People were asked to indicate the extent to which they experienced any long-lasting conditions or difficulties they had. From the questions, it is possible to identify three categories reflecting the extent to which long-lasting conditions or difficulties were experienced.
Note also that the categories include difficulties experienced due to old age.
Due to the substantial changes in the long-lasting conditions and difficulties questions, Census 2022 results are not directly comparable with previous census data for these questions. More information is provided in the Background Notes.
A total of 1,109,557 people reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent, accounting for 22% of the population.
Of these, 407,342 (8% of the population) reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent or a lot.
A further 702,215 (14% of the population) reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to some extent or a little.
The overall proportion of the population experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty to either a great or some extent was higher for females than males. In general, proportions increased with age for all extents to which long-lasting conditions and difficulties were experienced.
The percentage of people experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent was lower among young children (0 to 4 years) at 4% than for young adults (15 to 19 years) at 17%.
Among people in the age groups between 20 and 49 years, the percentage experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent ranged from 16% to 19%.
From age 50 onwards, the percentage of people experiencing long-lasting conditions or difficulties to any extent began to rise, increasing more rapidly from age 75.
While overall more females than males experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent, among children under 15 years, proportionately more males than females experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty.
This was also apparent among males aged between 60 and 75 years.
For all other age groups, males recorded lower proportions of long-lasting conditions or difficulties than females.
More than one in five people experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent.
This ranged from 19% in Fingal to 24% in Wexford.
Among children aged under 15 years, Offaly recorded the highest rate of long-lasting conditions or difficulties experienced to any extent (11%) while Monaghan had the lowest rate (8%).
Among older age groups, Dublin City recorded the highest rate of long-lasting conditions or difficulties experienced to any extent for the 70 to 74 year age group (41%) compared with 38% for the State.
At the other end of the scale, a relatively low rate (33%) for people aged 70 to 74 years was recorded in Galway City.
At 51%, Carlow had the highest proportion of people aged 75 to 79 years who experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent while Donegal recorded the highest rates among those aged 80 to 84 years (63%) and 85 years and over (80%).
In contrast, Kerry recorded a relatively low rate for those aged 75 to 79 years (43%) and 80 to 84 years (56%).
Westmeath had the lowest rate among those aged 85 years and over at 68%, compared with 76% for the State.
Long-lasting conditions or difficulties were experienced to a great extent by 8% of the population.
The counties where the rate of long-lasting conditions or difficulties experienced to a great extent was highest (9%) included Wexford and Cork City.
People in Fingal recorded the lowest rate at State level (6%).
Among children aged under 15 years, Offaly recorded the highest rate of long-lasting conditions or difficulties experienced to a great extent at 5%, while Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the lowest rate (2%).
For older age groups, Dublin City had the highest rate (16%) among people aged 70 to 74, whereas Carlow recorded the highest proportion among 75 to 79-year-olds (22%).
The highest rates of long-lasting conditions or difficulties experienced to a great extent among those aged 80 to 84 years were recorded in Longford and Dublin City (31%).
Donegal and Leitrim recorded the highest rates among the 85 years and older age group: 55% in both counties, compared with 48% for the State.
Among the 867 towns included in Census 2022, 218 had a population of over 1,500. There was significant variation among the proportions of people in the towns who experienced long-lasting conditions or difficulties to any extent.
These ranged from 13% in Saggart in Dublin to 31% in Ballyshannon, Donegal.
Of the 10 towns with the lowest proportions of people experiencing long-lasting conditions or difficulties to any extent, five were in Meath.
The rates of long-lasting conditions or difficulties experienced to a great extent ranged from 4% in Bearna, County Galway to 15% in Kilrush in Clare.
Apart from Bearna, the remainder of the 10 towns with the lowest proportions of people experiencing long-lasting conditions or difficulties to a great extent were located in Meath and Dublin.
The data in Tables 1.5 and 1.6 above was extracted from F4002 where more details can be found on the number and percentage of people experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty to any, some or a great extent by sex, age group and towns with a population of over 1,500 people.
The rates to which long-lasting conditions or difficulties were experienced to both any and a great extent varied at Local Electoral Area level.
The proportion of people in LEAs experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent ranged from 16% in Ongar, Fingal to 26% in Wexford.
LEAs containing the highest proportions of people experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent (11%) included Cork City North West, Palmerstown-Fonthill in South Dublin, Limerick City North, Belmullet in Mayo and Artane-Whitehall in Dublin City.
At 5%, Glencullen-Sandyford in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown reported the lowest proportion of long-lasting conditions or difficulties experienced to a great extent.
Information on relationships within a family unit collected in the Census provide data on people living with their parents. There were over 228,000 people aged 25 years or over cohabiting with their parents on Census Night 2022.
Almost one in four of these (51,942) reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent.
Among this cohort, the most common condition or difficulty recorded to a great extent was a difficulty working at a job or business or attending school or college (11,548 people).
A difficulty in participating in other activities to a great extent was recorded by 8,219 people aged 25 years and over living with their parents.
The third most common condition experienced to a great extent was a psychological or emotional condition or mental health issue, recorded by 7,041 people.
This was also the most common condition or difficulty experienced to some extent (13,364 people).
A further 10,444 people aged 25 years and over living with their parents experienced a difficulty with pain, breathing or any other chronic illness or condition to some extent.
Nearly 10,000 people aged 25 years and over living with their parents reported experiencing blindness or a vision impairment to some extent.
There were 1.7 million people enumerated as children of any age in family units in private households. Among these, 230,714 (13%) reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent, with 84,263 experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent.
For approximately one in three of these 230,714 children, one or both parents identified as unpaid carers.
Among children who experienced at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent, 30% had at least one parent who identified as an unpaid carer and 16% had two parents identifying as unpaid carers.
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