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.
First introduced in Census 2011, the question on general health has not changed since. People were asked to rate their health from very good to very bad.
The percentage of the population reporting their general health as very good decreased from 59% in 2016 to 53% in 2022.
Those reporting their general health as good increased from 28% in 2016 to 30% in 2022.
In each five year age group up to the age of 30, males reported higher proportions of very good health compared with females.
From age 30 onwards, proportionately more females had very good health compared with males.
Overall, very good general health status decreased with age; 80% of people aged 5 to 9 years reported very good health, whereas just 10% of those aged 85 years and over had very good health.
The proportion of people with fair, bad or very bad health increased with age.
Almost one in five people aged between 60 and 64 years reported less good health as did approximately one in two (46%) of those aged 85 years and over.
There were fewer than one in 50 people aged under 20 years with fair, bad or very bad health.
Among people in the age groups between 20 and 59 years, the percentage indicating that their health was fair, bad or very bad ranged from 5% to 16%.
Principal Economic Status in the census measures whether people are at work, unemployed or not in the labour force. Therefore, it is recorded only for people aged 15 years and over.
90% of students or pupils and 88% of those at work reported either very good or good general health.
Just a third of people who were unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability had very good or good health.
One in five people (20%) in this category recorded bad or very bad health.
Of all those in long-term unemployment (more than 12 months), 32% reported very good health while the equivalent proportion for short-term unemployed people (less than 12 months) was 38%.
Among those who were retired, only 5% reported bad or very bad health.
The census enables the entire population to be classified into social class groups which are primarily based on occupation.
Among professional workers, 72% reported very good health, compared with 41% of unskilled workers.
Almost three-quarters (73%) of female professional workers reported very good health, slightly higher than males in this class (71%).
Very good health was more prevalent among male unskilled workers (43%) than females (37%).
However, females in the unskilled workers class reported a higher proportion (58%) of good or fair health compared with males (52%) in the same class.
Unskilled workers reported the highest percentage of fair (15%) or bad and very bad (3%) general health status.
People who experienced at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty tended to report less good general health.
Among people who experienced at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent, 23% reported very good health whereas 40% reported good general health.
Only 12% of people who experienced at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent reported very good health, with a further 29% reporting good health.
In contrast, 53% of the total population reported very good health while 30% reported good health.
Nearly one in five people who experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent reported bad or very bad health compared with just 1% of those experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty to some extent.
The percentage of people reporting their general health status as either very good or good decreased from 88% in 2011 to 83% in 2022. All counties reported a shift from good to less good health between 2011 and 2022.
In 2022, very good or good general health ranged from 76% of people in Dublin City to 88% in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.
Among the administrative counties with the largest decreases in very good health status was Galway City where 59% of residents reported very good health in 2011, falling to 48% in 2022.
The percentage of Longford residents reporting very good health fell from 57% in 2011 to 47% in 2022.
There were 218 towns that had a population of over 1,500 people in Census 2022.
Among these towns, the percentage of people reporting very good or good health ranged from 64% in Saggart, Dublin to 91% in Watergrasshill, Cork and Stamullen, Meath.
High proportions (90%) of very good or good health were also reported in Donabate, County Dublin, Bearna, County Galway, Malahide, County Dublin and Carrigaline in County Cork.
Watergrasshill also reported the highest percentage of very good health (66%).
Towns with a population over 1,500 people reporting lower proportions of very good or good health included Castlerea in Roscommon and Ballymahon in Longford (67%).
A question on smoking tobacco products was included for the first time in an Irish census in 2022.
Less than one in 10 people smoked daily and 4% of the population smoked occasionally in 2022.
Among people aged 15 years and over, 16% reported that they smoked either daily or occasionally.
Just over 60% of the population reported they had never smoked (3,113,712) and a further 19% had given up smoking (974,145).
The proportion of daily or occasional smokers was 6% among those aged 15 to 19 years, increasing to 21% among 20 to 24-year-olds.
In each of the age groups between 25 and 64 years, around 13% of people smoked daily.
The prevalence of occasional smoking began to decrease among those aged 30 years and over, whereas daily smoking did not start to decrease until the age of 55.
Over 90% of people who never smoked reported very good or good health.
In contrast, among those who smoked daily, 79% reported very good or good general health.
A higher percentage (88%) of occasional smokers reported very good or good health.
Just over 80% of people who had given up smoking reported very good or good health.
Higher proportions of males (89%) who smoked occasionally reported very good or good health compared with females (86%).
In 2022, 13% of the population smoked either daily or occasionally.
The LEAs where the rates of daily or occasional smoking were the highest included Galway City Central, Ballyfermot-Drimnagh and South West Inner City, Dublin City where 18% of people smoked.
The lowest rates of daily or occasional smoking were recorded in Stillorgan, Blackrock and Ratoath, where 9% of people smoked.
LEAs containing the highest proportions of people who had either given up smoking or never smoked included Rathfarnham-Templeogue (88%) and Stillorgan (87%).
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