Donegal's population has increased to 166,321, a 4.5% increase on 2016

People must fill in their census form this Sunday

placeholder image — People must fill in their census form this Sunday

Preliminary data from the 2022 census shows that the population of Donegal has increased to 166,321 and the current population of the country now stands at 5.1million people.

The Donegal population includes 83,946 females and 82,375 males. This is an increase of 7,129 (+4.5%) since 2016.

The higher Donegal population was made up of a natural increase (ie births minus deaths) of 3,682 and an estimated net inward migration (ie population change minus natural increase) of 3,447.

The total housing stock in Donegal in April 2022 was 86,489. This shows increase of 2,558 (+3%) since 2016. There were 9,851 vacant dwellings, which was 1,853 fewer than in 2016 (-15.8%). This does not include holiday homes, of which there were 12,377.

The Republic now has registered its highest population in a Census since 1841. The population of 5.1 million on April 3, 2022 means there has been an increase of 7.6% from Census 2016. All counties show population growth since 2016

Longford saw biggest percentage increase (+14.1%), followed by Meath (+12.9%)

In the six years between Census 2016 and Census 2022, there was net inward migration of more than 190,000 throughout the country.

While the Housing stock increased to 2.1m (+6%), Vacant dwellings (excluding holiday homes) fell to 166,752 (-9%)