Despite significant growth in recent years, Galway’s population is still just 59 per cent of what it was in 1841, according to a new infographic published by the Western Development Commission.
The WDC has created a series of infographics for the eight counties in the west, outlining 16 key statistics for each county gathered from 2016 Census data.
The Galway statistics include the population, which amounted to 258,058. Fifty four per cent of these people lived in rural areas, and 61 per cent of the working age population were in work.
The infographic also shows the average time to travel to work in Galway city was 21.7 minutes, the lowest in the country. It averaged 29.3 minutes in Galway county. A total of 59 per cent of Galway people reported being in very good health, and 45 per cent of Galway’s adults have a third level qualification.
The infographic also shows population growth in Galway since the 2011 Census (three per cent ), and the growth over the last 10 years (11 per cent ). However despite this growth, the population stands at just 59 per cent of pre-Famine numbers.
Galway has more women (50.5 per cent ) than men, and the infographic shows that 13.5 per cent of Galway people are over 65 and more than a fifth are under 15 (20.9 per cent ).
“The infographics are an entertaining means of giving information about the county,” said Dr Helen McHenry, policy analyst with the WDC. “They show important information and county characteristics in an accessible and lively way. We hope the infographics will be used in schools and in workplaces and anywhere that people want to know more about the county where they live or are visiting.”
