Regional Profile
Regional Profile
Data Source: CSO Census Data for 2011 and 2016
Population
The population of the region is increasing and ageing…
The population of the region increased by 2,623 persons from 2006 (48,120) to 2016 (50,743), an increase in population of 5.5%.
The average age of the population of the region was 40.0 years of age. This is higher than the national average, which was 37.4 years in 2016. The number of those aged 65 years and older accounted for 17.7% of the total population in 2016. This is higher than the national average, which was 13.4% in 2016. While the working age population only decreased by 0.6% between 2006 and 2016, the number of those aged between 0 and 29 years decreased by 7%, accounting for 34.7% of the population. This is below the national average, which was 39.5% of the population in 2016.
The region is becoming more diverse…
The population of foreign nationals in the region is increasing. All foreign nationals represented 8.2% of the total population of the region in 2016, an increase from 6.8% in 2006. This is below the national average, which was 11.6% in 2016. The nationality which increased the most as a percentage of the total population of the region was those identified as being from Poland, which grew by 168%, from 422 persons in 2006 to 1,131 persons in 2016.
Household Composition
Household sizes are growing smaller, while household numbers are increasing…
The total number of households in the region is. This is below the national average for all households with children, which was 48% of all households in 2016.
Household sizes are also decreasing in the region. ‘1 Person’ and ‘2 Person’ households comprised 57% of all households in 2016, an increase from 53% in 2006. Households with 3 persons or more comprised 42.9% in 2016, a decrease from 46.9% in 2006.
All ‘Owner-occupied’ tenure households accounted for 74.9% of all households in 2016, a decrease from 78.9% in 2006, with ‘Owner-occupied with mortgage’ experiencing the most significant decrease. All ‘Rented’ tenure households accounted for 20.8% of all households in 2016, an increase from 18.5% in 2006, with ‘Rented from private landlord’ experiencing the most significant increase.
Occupancy rates of permanent dwellings increased between 2006 and 2016. ‘Occupied’ dwellings accounted for 86% of all dwellings in 2016, an increase from 79% in 2006. Vacancy rates decreased between 2006 and 2016. ‘Vacant’ dwellings accounted for 14% of all dwellings in 2016, a decrease from 21% in 2006.
Education
Post-Leaving Cert education is growing, but Pre-Leaving Cert education is decreasing…
While the number of those with post-Leaving Cert qualifications has increased from 2006 to 2016, the number of those with qualifications ‘Up to Leaving Cert’ has decreased.
Those with ‘Third Level (Level 7+)’ qualifications increased by 81.1% between 2006 and 2016, while those with ‘Primary or Less’ qualifications decreased by 24.9% and ‘Up to Leaving Cert’ qualifications decreasing by 14.3%. Those with ‘No Formal Education’ increased by 376.6% between 2006 and 2016, from 146 persons to 696 persons.
Economy
Unemployment and retirement are increasing…
The population at work in the region is decreasing, while the number of those unemployed is increasing. Those ‘Unemployed or having lost or given up previous job’ increased by 83.6% between 2006 and 2016, comprising 8.4% of the total working age population in 2016. Those ‘At work’ decreased by 4.1% between 2006 and 2016, comprising 48.5% of the total working age population in 2016. Those ‘Retired’ increased by 34.7% between 2006 and 2016, comprising 18.6% of the total working age population.
More are being employed in high-level roles…
Those in ‘Professional’ and ‘Employer and Manger’ roles increased between 2006 and 2016, comprising 24% of all those employed in 2016. Those in ‘Non-Manual’, ‘Manual Skilled’, ‘Semi-Skilled’, ‘Unskilled’ and ‘Own Account’ workers decreased between 2006 and 2016, comprising 46.6% of all those employed in 2016. ‘Farmers’, ‘Agricultural workers’ and ‘Others gainfully occupied/unknown’ decreased between 2006 and 2016, comprising 29.5% of all those employed in 2016.
| Socio-Economic Group | % Persons 2016 | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| A Employers and managers | 11% | 24.0% |
| B Higher professional | 4% | |
| C Lower professional | 10% | |
| D Non-manual | 14% | 46.6% |
| E Manual skilled | 12% | |
| F Semi-skilled | 11% | |
| G Unskilled | 4% | |
| H Own account workers | 5% | |
| I Farmers | 12% | 29.5% |
| J Agricultural workers | 1% | |
| Z Others gainfully occupied/unknown | 17% | |
| Total | 100% | |
Transport
Car dependency continues to increase…
Those traveling by ‘Green Transport’ has decreased between 2006 and 2016, with travel by car increasing.
Travel as a ‘Car driver’ and ‘Car passenger’ increased from 60.5% of all travel in 2006 to 65.9% of all travel in 2016. ‘Green Transport’ (includes travelling on foot, by bus, minibus, coach, train, or tram) decreased from 22.6% of all travel in 2006 to 16.9% of all travel in 2016. 74% of ‘Green Transport’ journeys are undertaken for travel to school or college.
Overall, 65.1% of travel was made for work and employment in 2016, with 34.9% of all travel being made for educational purposes.
Average journey time increased slightly between 2006 and 2016, from 24 minutes to 25.2 minutes. 65.1% of all journeys were under 30 minutes in duration in 2016, identical to the same figure recorded in 2006.
Car ownership and average journey time have increased between 2006 and 2016. Car ownership per household increased by 13.3% between 2006 and 2016, with an additional 2,286 registered cars in the region.
Connectivity
Households and communities are more connected than ever before…
The number of households with both a personal computer and broadband access in the region increased significantly between 2006 and 2016. 61.4% of all households in the region owned a personal computer in 2016, an increase from 46.8% of all households in 2006.
Broadband access increased by 601.1% between 2006 and 2016, with an additional 9,564 households having access to broadband in 2016. However, 5,640 households are still without broadband access in 2016, comprising 28.9% of all households in 2016.
Deprivation
Many communities and households are still disadvantaged…
Deprivation within the North Kerry-West Limerick regional and local profiles has been measured using the Pobal HP Deprivation Index. The 2016 Pobal HP Deprivation Index shows the level of overall affluence and deprivation at small area level throughout Ireland.
The index is created through local analysis of relevant metrics (i.e. the proportion of skilled professionals, education levels, employment levels, and single-parent households found in an area). A score of -10 or higher is consider deprived.
The region* had a HP Deprivation score of -4.39 in 2016, a decrease from -4.47 in 2011. The region can be described as having a ‘marginally below average’ HP Deprivation score. While the overall area has marginally improved over the years there are a number of areas within the region that are deprived.
*Weighted average based on population in each respective year