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 April 2022, over 1.1 million people (22% of the population) reported having experienced at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty.
In Fingal, 19% of the population had a long-lasting condition or difficulty, which was the lowest proportion in the country. County Wexford, at 24%, had the highest.
More than 346,000 people (34% of the population aged 15 and over who experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty) were at work.
In towns with a population of over 1,500 people, the highest rate (91%) of people who reported good or very good health was in Watergrasshill in Cork.
Among professional workers, 72% reported very good health compared with 41% of unskilled workers.
Almost 450,000 people, or 9% of the population, smoked daily while just over 226,400 people (4%) smoked occasionally.
There were almost 300,000 people providing regular unpaid care, which was 6% of the population.
Some 57% of unpaid carers (aged over 15) were at work in 2022, up from 51% in 2016.
Explore census data from county level to neighbourhood (Small Area) level
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (28 September 2023) released Census 2022 Profile 4 Disability, Health, and Carers. This is the fourth in a series of eight thematic profiles which will provide detailed results on specific areas of Census 2022. This release focuses on aspects of population health in Ireland in April 2022.
Commenting on the results, Sheelagh Bonham, Statistician in the Census Division, said:
“This profile reports on Disability, Health, and Carers in Ireland from Census 2022 providing important data on the health of the country, including details on the number of people that experienced long-lasting conditions and difficulties and the extent to which these conditions were experienced. The publication also reports on general health and smoking rates in the country as well as information on people who provided regular unpaid care and the hours of care they provided.
Long-Lasting Conditions and Difficulties
In this publication, the term 'disability' refers to experiencing long-lasting conditions or difficulties and the results show that more than 1.1 million people (22% of the population) experienced at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty.
The two questions on this subject were changed in Census 2022 to allow us to report on the extent to which people experienced these long-lasting conditions and difficulties. The findings show that 407,342 people (8% of the population) experienced long-lasting conditions and difficulties to a great extent, while a further 702,215 people (14% of the population) did so to some extent.
Overall, more females (578,350) than males (531,207) experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty. The percentage of people experiencing these conditions or difficulties was lower among young children (0 to 4 years) at 4% and young adults (15 to 19 years) at 17%. From age 50 onwards, this rate began to rise, and increased more rapidly from age 75.
General Health
Census 2022 results show a general shift from good to less good health. The percentage of people reporting their general health status as very good decreased from 59% in Census 2016 to 53% in 2022 while the percentage of those reporting their general health status as good increased to 30% in 2022 from 28% in 2016.
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%.
One in five people (20%) who were unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability recorded bad or very bad health status. Among those who were retired, only 5% reported bad or very bad health.
Smoking Tobacco Products
A question on smoking tobacco products was included for the first time in Census 2022 showing that 4.1 million people (79%) in Ireland had either never smoked or had given up smoking, while 9% of the population smoked daily and 4% smoked occasionally.
The highest proportion of overall daily or occasional smokers was among those aged 25 to 29 years, where approximately one in four people smoked. Examining smoking by age groups, 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.
More than 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.
Carers
The number of people providing regular unpaid care increased by 53%, up from 195,263 in 2016 to 299,128 in 2022. A greater proportion of unpaid care was provided by females (61%) compared with males (39%).
Almost two-thirds (191,489) of carers were aged between 40 and 64 years. A further 15% of all unpaid carers were aged 65 years or over.
In 2022, the number of carers aged under 15 years was 4,759, or 2% of the carers in the State. This represented an increase of 959 young people since 2016 when the number of young carers was 3,800, which was also 2% of carers.
Appreciation
The publication of Census 2022 results could not have been achieved without the overwhelmingly positive response from the public and we thank everyone who completed their census form on 03 April 2022. We would also like to thank everyone involved in the Census 2022 campaign culminating in today’s successful publication of the results.”
For more commentary on the Census 2022 Profile 4 Disability, Health, and Carers results, please see the Press Release.