Source: CSO

The Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2007 was published today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The Yearbook presents a comprehensive picture of Ireland today. It provides detailed information, tables and graphs across a wide range of topics. These include the population, labour force, education, crime, the economy, agriculture, industry, services, prices, housing, knowledge economy and the environment.
 

People
 

• The population enumerated on census night 23 April 2006 was 4,239,848 persons, compared with 3,917,203 in April 2002, representing an increase of 8.2% in four years.
   
• The death rate continues to fall steadily. The number of deaths per thousand population in 2006 was 6.5.
   
• The most popular babies' names in 2006 were Sean and Sarah.
   
• In 2005, almost 19% of the population were at-risk-of-poverty, while 7% were considered to be in consistent poverty.

Work
 

• From 1986 to 2006 the number of persons in employment increased from almost 1.1 million to over 2 million.
   
• The numbers unemployed fell from 225,400 to 91,400 over the same 20 year period.
   
• In 2006 there were over 7,352 days lost due to 10 industrial disputes.
   

Quarterly National Household Survey Special Topics
 

• The pension coverage rate for all persons in employment aged between 20 and 69 in the fourth quarter of 2005 was 55%. Male workers (58.3%) continued to have a higher pension coverage rate than their female counterparts (50.6%).
   
• SSIA account holders indicated that they would spend just under one third of their matured SSIA funds on consumer items including Home improvements, Foreign holidays, Cars and Other purchases.
   
• The average cost of paid childcare per household in the first quarter of 2005 was just over €120 per week.
   
• Almost 1.3 million households (88.7%) reported that they recycled some element of their household waste in the third quarter of 2005. 

Education
 

• In 2006, almost a quarter of those aged 15-64 had a third level qualification.
   
• 60% of new entrants to HEA institutions and 54% of new entrants of all third level institutions were female in 2005/2006.
   
• At age 19, 62% of females and 45% of males were in full time education in 2005/2006.

Crime
 

• There were 103,924 headline offences in 2006, up from 102,258 in 2005.
   
• There were 17,868 drink driving detections in 2006. This represented a rise of almost 34% on the 2005 figures.
   
• 14.6% of households in urban areas were victims of a crime compared with 6.3% of households in rural areas.
   

Economy
 

• National Debt as a percentage of GDP has fallen from 87.7% in 1990 to 20.4% in 2006.
   
• Lending by credit institutions to the personal (private households) sector has more than trebled from €39bn in 2000 to €134bn in 2006.
   
• The General Government Balance was a surplus of €5,031m in 2006 compared with a surplus of €1,627m in 2005.
   

Tourism/Transport

• Overseas visits to Ireland increased by over 10% since 2005 while visits abroad by Irish residents increased by 12%.
   
• Domestic trips by Irish Residents show a 2% increase since 2005 with a resultant increase in Expenditure of 20%.
   
• New private cars licensed for the first time in 2006 increased by 4.2% on the figures for 2005.
   
• Driving tests conducted in 2005 totalled 137,500, an overall pass rate of 54% was achieved.

Housing
 

• The value of total construction output at current prices more than doubled between 2000 and 2006.
   
• The average price of new houses for which loans were approved in 2006 was €305,637 for the State and €405,957 in Dublin.
   
• The number of planning permissions granted for new houses decreased by 19% from 2000 to 2006. The number of planning permissions granted for new apartments increased by nearly 8% in the same period.
   
• One-person households are the fastest growing ownership group, up 51,877 or 18.7% since 2002.
   

Knowledge Economy
 

• Almost half (48.7%) of Irish households connected to the internet with home computers in February 2006. Only 13% of all households had a broadband connection.
   
• There were 103 mobile phones for every 100 people in the country in the second quarter of 2006.