The preliminary results for the 2016 Census, published by the CSO yesterday, show that Mayo has seen a slight population decline over the past five years. When the previous Census was carried out in 2011, the population of the county was 130,638; according to the initial findings of the latest Census, which was carried out on Sunday April 24, the population of the county had fallen to 130,425, a drop of 213.
This preliminary results also found that there were 15,946 vacant dwellings in Mayo, a vacancy rate in dwellings of 24 per cent, while the number of males per 1,000 females in the county was 990. The net migration for Mayo is estimated at -3,246 persons.
The total population of Ireland, enumerated on Census night April 24, was 4,757,976, an increase of 169,724 (3.7 per cent ) on the 2011 census. Nationally there has been a substantial decrease in the number of vacant dwellings since 2011 – 13 per cent or nearly 30,000. The overall vacancy rate was 12.8 per cent (259,562 vacant dwellings ), with Mayo being almost double the national average.
The population change varied widely across the country with the decrease in Mayo being -213 (-0.2% ). The county with the highest percentage increase was Meath with an increase of 5.9 per cent.
Based on the preliminary population count of 4,757,976 persons and the current total of 158 TDs, the average number of persons per TD for the country as a whole now sits at 30,114,
For now, only headcount totals for males and females are available. Scanning and processing of the two million census forms has begun and the first definitive results are due to be published next March, within a year of Census day.
