Dundalk South tops Louth population in 2023, county population tops 150,000

Figures released this week by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on the population of the country in 2023, have given some insights to the breakdown of the population of Louth, at a local authority level and also at a local electoral area (LEA) level.

Among the figures relating to Louth in the release, it estimates that in 2023 Dundalk South was the most populated LEA and had more males than females; there were 66,656 people at work; and 14,911 were students or pupils, while the average age in the county was 37.9 and the population of the county was 151,185.

Additionally, 7,641 were looking after home/family; 16,904 were retired; 3,896 unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability; 11,376 were classified as “All Unemployed Persons”; and 489 were not in the Labour Force.

Looking at the LEAs in Louth, in 2023 the population was estimated as follows:

• Dundalk-Carlingford, Louth -  28,412
• Dundalk South, Louth -  41,428
• Ardee, Louth -  28,243
• Drogheda Rural, Louth -  20,990
• Drogheda Urban, Louth -  32,112

Commenting on the release, Cathal Doherty, Statistician in the Life Events and Demography Section, said:

“This is the fourth iteration of the Irish Population Estimates from Administrative Data Sources (IPEADS) release. This release includes a definition of the Administrative Population for the first time, as the CSO begins to formalise the population concept used in this Frontier Release, that using administrative data can provide more granular population estimates. The Administrative Population is therefore defined as a population estimate using data collected by government departments, agencies, and public bodies other than the CSO.

“Using this definition, our analysis shows that the Administrative Population of Ireland in April 2023 was approximately 5.45 million people, with a 50/50 split between men and women. The age profile of the Administrative Population aligned with other CSO Demographic releases. In 2023, less than 15% of the Administrative Population were aged 65 or above, and more than 20% were aged under 18 years.

Read Next: Teen killer appeals conviction for murdering friend found dead in a field in Louth

“When considering nationality, 81% of the Administrative Population had Irish nationality in 2023, followed by UK, Polish, Romanian, Indian and Ukrainian.

“Please note, that as part of the CSO's Frontier Series, this release uses developmental methodology and IPEADS' estimates must be interpreted with caution and are not comparable with official CSO population estimates such as Census data."