Census shows Limerick's population rose by 1.6% in five years

THE POPULATION of Limerick has increased by just 1.6% over the last five years, rising to 194,899.

The Census report shows that the population in Limerick was comprised of 97,340 males and 97,559 females. 

The average age of Limerick’s population in April 2016 was 37.7 years, compared to 36.5 years in April 2011.

The rate of divorce and separation continues to rise in Limerick, with 8,723 people divorced/separated in the county, a rate of 4.5%, compared to the national rate of 4.7%. 

Some 77,313 people in Limerick stated that they could speak Irish, compared to 81,420 in April 2011. 

Within this figure, 1,795 spoke Irish daily outside the education system, while 4,540 spoke Irish weekly outside the education system. 

The report shows that 1,659 Irish Travellers resided in county Limerick in April 2016, an increase of 9.6% since 2011. 

Broadband access in Limerick households increased to 46,590 dwellings in April 2016, an increase of 13% since April 2011. 

Nearly eight per cent of Limerick's population stated that they have no religion, in comparison to 8.6% in Munster and 9.8% in the State.

The overall results of the Census, completed on Sunday, April 24, 2016, show that Ireland’s population stood at 4,761,865 in April 2016, an increase of 3.8% since April 2011. 

The total number of non-Irish nationals has fallen slightly to 535,475, or 11.6% of the population, the first decline since the introduction of this question in 2002.

The number of people with dual-Irish nationality has increased by 48,879 to 104,784 people since April 2011. 

The recent publication is the first of a series of 13 reports on Census 2016 due to be published this year.