Mayo and Kerry are Ireland's oldest counties, while Kildare and Meath are the youngest. These maps and charts use Census 2022 to show how age differs from county to county.
In Mayo and Kerry there are now more people aged 65 or over than children under 15. Mayo had 27,328 people aged 65 and over in April 2022, and 26,362 children under 15. Kerry had 29,567 older people and 28,756 children.
The commuter belt is the opposite. In Kildare there were almost two children for every older person.
These figures come from Census 2022, taken on Sunday 3 April 2022. The census counted 5,149,139 people. It found the country is getting older, but at very different speeds in different places.
Ireland is getting older
The average age in Ireland was 38.8 in April 2022. That is up from 37.4 in 2016, and up 3.7 years since 2002. Women were older on average (39.4) than men (38.2).
The number of people aged 65 or over rose by 138,748 between 2016 and 2022, an increase of 22%. The number aged 85 or over rose faster still, by 25%. The number of children under 15 grew by just 5,735.
Where the over-65s live
Older people make up the biggest share of the population along the west coast and in the north-west. Mayo has the highest share, at 19.8%. Kerry (18.9%), Leitrim (18.7%) and Roscommon (18.6%) follow close behind.
The lowest shares are in the commuter counties around Dublin. Kildare has the lowest, at 12.0%, then Meath (12.3%) and Laois (13.0%). Dublin as a whole is at 13.4%.
Inside Dublin the picture splits. In Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, 17.1% of people are 65 or over, close to the west coast counties. In Fingal it is 11.1%, the lowest of any council area in the State.
Cities are younger than the counties around them. In Galway City, 12.7% of people are 65 or over, against 16.6% in Galway County. More than a quarter of Galway City's people (28.2%) are aged 20 to 34, many of them students and young workers.
Dublin is the youngest part of Ireland.
Dublin has the most young adults, but Kildare and Meath have smaller shares of people aged 65 or over. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, at 17.1%, has a higher share of over-65s than Cork or Galway.
Average age by county
The CSO names Mayo, Kerry, Roscommon and Leitrim as the oldest counties by average age, and Fingal, Kildare and Meath as the youngest areas. Every county got older between 2016 and 2022. Kildare's average age rose the most, by two years.
| County | 2016 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Mayo | 40.2 | 41.6 |
| Kerry | 40.2 | 41.5 |
| Roscommon | 39.7 | 40.8 |
| Leitrim | 39.8 | 40.7 |
| State | 37.4 | 38.8 |
| Meath | 35.2 | 36.9 |
| Kildare | 34.9 | 36.9 |
An average age of 41.6 in Mayo against 36.9 in Kildare may look a small gap. But it reflects very different mixes of young families, working-age adults and retired people.
Where the children are
Children make up the biggest shares in Meath and Laois, and in Monaghan and Cavan along the border. In Meath, 22.7% of people are under 15, the highest share. Laois (22.2%), Monaghan (21.9%) and Cavan (21.7%) are next.
Dublin and Kerry have the lowest share of children, both at 18.4%. Dublin has a large share of young adults instead: 30.6% of people in Dublin are aged 20 to 39, the highest share of any county.
Share of Dublin's population aged 20 to 39, against 20.4% in Leitrim
Source: data.cso.ieOlder populations grew faster near Dublin than in the west
The counties with the smallest shares of older people saw some of the fastest growth. In Kildare the number aged 65 or over rose by 35% between 2016 and 2022. In Meath it rose by 30%.
In the west, which already had older populations, the rise was slower. The number of over-65s grew by 19% in Mayo and 18% in Kerry, below the national rise of 22%.
The very old are most common in the west too. People aged 85 or over make up 2.2% of the population in Mayo and Roscommon, against 1.0% in Kildare. Across the State there were 84,441 people aged 85 or over.
Ireland's age profile
The biggest age group in 2022 was people aged 40 to 44, with 411,524 people. People in this group were born between 1977 and 1982. They will start to turn 65 in 2042.
The CSO measures this with the old-age dependency ratio: the number of people aged 65 or over for every 100 people aged 15 to 64. It was 23.1 in 2022. The young dependency ratio, children under 15 per 100 people of working age, was 30.1.
What this means for you
- Counties with a larger share of older people have more people who may need home care and health services. The maps show where those shares are highest.
- If you care for an older relative, Citizens Information lists the supports and services available.
- Health services for older people, including home support, are run by the HSE.
- You can look up the age profile of your own area, down to small local areas, on data.cso.ie.
About these figures
- All figures are from Census 2022, taken on 3 April 2022.
- Dublin combines Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. Cork and Galway each combine city and county.
- County shares are Irish Wire calculations from CSO counts by five-year age group.
- Average ages by county are taken from CSO county press statements for Census 2022.
The next census will be held, according to the CSO. It will show how fast each county has aged since 2022.
- CSO: Census 2022 Summary Results, Population Changes
- CSO: Census 2022 Summary Results
- CSO: Table SAP2022T1T1ACTY, Population by age group, sex and administrative county, 2022
- CSO: Census 2022 Summary Results press statement, Mayo
- CSO: Census 2022 Summary Results press statement, Kildare
- CSO: Census 2022 Summary Results press statements, Kerry, Roscommon, Leitrim and Meath
- CSO: Census 2027
- CSO: 2006 Census of Population, Principal Demographic Results press release
