Virginia is the fastest growing town in Ulster

Almost a third of Cavan's population now live in urban areas; while Virginia is the fastest growing town in the county and in Ulster.

The Central Statistics Office today publishes the second in the series of eleven thematic reports from Census 2016 – Profile 2: Population Distribution and Movements. This report is accompanied by a set of detailed population by area tables, published on the CSO website, which provide the population for every settlement in Ireland for 2016 and 2011.

Deirdre Cullen, senior statistician, commented: :Profile 2 provides information on the distribution of the population, changes in urban and rural populations, population density and internal migration. This is the second of our thematic census releases and sheds further light on how the population has changed over the past five years.”

Profile 2 is now available on the Central Statistics Office website at www.cso.ie/en/census

 

Highlights

Of a total population of 76,176 in Cavan in April 2016, 30.5% (23,258 persons) lived in urban areas, with 69.5% (52,918 persons) living in rural areas. This is the reverse of the national picture where 62.7% lived in urban areas and 37.3% in rural areas.

Cavan, with 10,914 persons, was the largest town in the county; while the fastest growing town in percentage terms was Virginia, which experienced 16% population growth between 2011 and 2016. This also made it the fastest growing town in all of Ulster. Nationally, Drogheda remained the largest town, with 40,956 residents; while Saggart was the fastest growing town, seeing its population increase by 46.1% between 2011 and 2016.

 

On the move

Of the 3,093 usual Cavan residents who moved home in the year to April 2016, most (2,149) moved elsewhere within the county. Only 240 of the 1,458 Cavan households who moved in the year preceding the census bought their new home with a mortgage or loan, while 961 rented their accommodation. Nationally, 263,551 usual residents moved in the year to April 2016.

 

Headline results

 

- Some 40.5% of people living in County Cavan were born outside the county, according to the latest analysis. This compares to 35.1% in the rest of Ulster or 38.3% in the State.

- It found that 17.5% living in County Cavan were born outside of Ireland. This compares to a regional figure of 20.2% and a national rate of 17.3%