This publication is part of a series of results from Census 2022.
For the first time since 2006, a question was asked in the census on participation in voluntary activities amongst the population. It is possible to identify people’s participation in the following categories of voluntary activities.
Social or charitable organisations.
Religious or church groups.
Sporting organisations.
Political organisations.
Community work.
The question asked in 2022 was different than the one on the Census 2006 form. In particular, the question in 2006 was restricted to people aged 15 years and over and was looking to capture volunteering activities carried out during the four weeks prior to Census Night. In addition, the wording of the volunteer categories also changed; for example, the category that in 2006 included 'political or cultural organisation' only referred to 'political organisation' in 2022. This means Census 2022 results have limited comparability with the 2006 data. More information is provided in the Background Notes.
In 2022, a total of 711,379 people (14% of the population) engaged in helping or voluntary work in one or more activity.
Almost 290,000 people volunteered in a sporting organisation, making it the most popular voluntary activity.
This accounted for 6% of the population and 40% of all volunteers.
Almost twice as many males (189,099) as females (97,788) volunteered in a sporting organisation.
The second most common activity was volunteering in the community (226,822 people), followed by a social or charity related activity (198,274 people).
Volunteering in a political organisation was the least popular, with just 17,295 people in this group, or 2% of all volunteers.
When compared with males, higher numbers of females engaged in volunteering in the community, in social or charitable organisations and in religious groups.
Almost two-thirds of volunteers in political organisations were male.
Though the questions on volunteering in Census 2006 and Census 2022 were different, it is interesting to compare what the data from both censuses tells us. More information about the two questions is provided in the Background Notes.
In 2006, 553,255 people aged 15 years and over indicated that they volunteered in at least one activity. This increased by 23% to 681,246 people in 2022. The population 15 years and older also increased by 23% from 3,375,399 to 4,136,852 in this timeframe.
Among people aged 15 years and over, volunteering for a sporting organisation saw the largest increase in the number of volunteers, by 50% to 271,525 people in 2022.
Volunteering in a religious organisation or church decreased by 13% from 143,133 in 2006 to 123,977 in 2022.
The number of people volunteering in a social or charitable organisation remained relatively stable, but declined as a percentage of the population aged 15 and over from 6% (192,752) to 5% (194,663).
The overall percentage of the population engaged in at least one volunteering activity was 14%.
Leitrim had the highest percentage of people involved in voluntary activities at 18% of the county's population.
At 11%, volunteering was lowest in Dublin City and South Dublin.
Volunteering tended to be higher in the west of the country with Leitrim (18%), Mayo (17%) and Sligo (17%) each recording relatively high rates of volunteering.
The rates of volunteering with sporting organisations ranged from 3% of Dublin City’s population to 7% of Galway County’s.
At 4%, Cavan had the highest proportion of any county's population volunteering in a religious organisation.
Volunteering for a social or charitable organisation was highest in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (5%).
Volunteering in a sporting organisation was the most popular type of voluntary activity in 26 of the 31 administrative counties.
Among the 862 towns (this figure excludes the cities and suburbs of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford) included in Census 2022, 49 had a population over 10,000 people. There was significant variation in volunteering rates among the towns.
This ranged from 16% in Skerries, Co. Dublin to 10% in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford.
Three large towns recorded a volunteering rate higher than the State average of 14% and all three were in Fingal: Skerries (16%), Malahide (16%) and Portmarnock (15%).
At 4%, Cavan had the highest proportion of any town's population involved in volunteering for a religious group or church.
Balbriggan in Fingal was the town with the highest proportion of people (4%) under the age of 15 engaging in at least one voluntary activity.
Among the 164 towns with a population between 1,500 and 10,000 people, Bearna in County Galway and Crosshaven in County Cork had the highest proportion of people engaged in at least one voluntary activity, both at 19%.
Just under one in four of the smaller towns (23%) had a greater proportion of volunteers than the national rate of 14%.
Ballina in County Tipperary and Bearna in County Galway both had the highest proportion of people volunteering in a sporting organisation (9%).
Bearna also had the highest proportion of females volunteering in at least one activity at 19%
Dunmore East in County Waterford had the highest proportion of male volunteers at 21%.
Ballyhaunis in County Mayo and Roscommon town had the highest proportion of people volunteering in a religious organisation or church, both at 4%.
The proportion of people engaged in helping or voluntary work increased with age.
Over one-third (38%) of all volunteers were aged between 45 and 64 years.
A further 29% were aged 25 to 44 years.
With the exception of people aged 65 years and over, volunteering in a sporting organisation was the most popular form of volunteering in all age groups.
Over half of younger volunteers aged between 15 and 24 years old volunteered in a sporting organisation.
Older volunteers aged 65 years and over were most likely to volunteer for a social or charitable organisation or in the community.
The average age of the population was 38.8 years in 2022. At 39.4 years, the average age of females was higher than that of males (38.2 years).
The average age of people who volunteered in one or more activity was 47, compared with an average age of 37.5 among people who did not volunteer.
At 43, people volunteering in a sporting organisation had the lowest average age among all people involved in voluntary activities.
At 53.4, the average age of volunteers in a religious group was the highest among the volunteering categories.
Apart from those volunteering with religious groups, female volunteers were generally younger than males across each activity type.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the oldest average age for volunteers (49.6 years).
Galway City had the youngest average age for volunteers at 44.8 years.
When comparing 2006 with 2022, we can see the average age of people aged 15 years and over who volunteered increased from 45.1 in 2006 to 48.6 in 2022.
Among the various voluntary activity categories, the average age increased most among those volunteering in a political organisation from 46.7 in 2006 to 52.6 in 2022, meaning people volunteering in this category were on average six years older in 2022. Note that this category in 2006 was broader and included political and cultural organisations.
Volunteers in a sporting organisation saw the smallest change in average age between 2006 and 2022, from 41.7 to 44.8, an increase of around 3 years.
Male volunteers saw a slightly larger increase in their average age (3.9 years) between 2006 and 2022 compared with female volunteers who were on average 3.1 years older.
Many people who volunteered in 2022 did so in more than one type of activity.
Among the over 700,000 volunteers, 16% (113,138) volunteered in more than one activity as recorded in the census.
Over 60% of people who volunteered in a political organisation also volunteered in at least one other activity (10,517 people).
More than a third of people who volunteered in either social or charitable organisations, religious groups or in the community were involved in multiple activities.
Of the 286,887 people who volunteered for a sporting organisation, just one in five (58,519) engaged in another voluntary activity.
Volunteering in multiple activities was higher in the west of the country: Leitrim, Mayo, Cavan, Sligo, Roscommon and Longford, all had at least one in five volunteers involved in multiple activities.
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