Craigavon one of highest population explosions

CRAIGAVON district has one of the highest population explosions in Northern Ireland, according to the latest census figures.

Since the last census in 2001, the population of the borough has shot up by 15 per cent.

In total there were 93,023 people living in the borough according to the 2011 report published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

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This is compared to 80,671 people living here in 2001 and works out at 5.1% of the NI population.

And the number of children aged up to three years old has also risen by 32% - the largest in Northern Ireland. Indeed 0-3 year olds represent 6.4% of the district’s population. There were 5,932 children in this age group in the borough at the last census.

The district also had a marked increase in the number of younger working age adults aged between 16-39. With a hike of 14% it is significantly higher than the 2% increase across Northern Ireland and the third highest in the province. In 2011 there were 12,999 people in this age group.

There is almost a 25% increase in the number of older working age adults - aged 40-64 in the Craigavon area - this is just about average compared to the rest of Northern Ireland. In 2011 there were 28,526 in this age group.

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And there is just over 20% increase in the number of people aged 65-84 in the district, also around the Northern Ireland average. There were 11,238 people recorded in the 2011 census.

Plus there is almost a 40% increase in the number of people aged 85 and over, again around the NI average. 1,379 people in this age group were recorded in the last census.

The census results, revealed last week, show that the average number of people in households in the Craigavon district is 2.5.

There were 19,924 children aged under 15 in the district in 2001 and now 20,520 and 22% of the borough’s population and a 3% rise since the last census.

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The last census discovered there were 162 children under 15 for every 100 people aged over 65 - one of the highest in NI.

Most households in Craigavon - 30% - have two members, almost 11,000 households. This marks a 30% rise since the last census. At 27% there is a high rate also of people living alone - 9,528 which is also on the rise by 15%. Just 10% of households have five or more members, 3,713 down by 4%.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency released these results from the 2011 Census, which was held on 27 March 2011. The statistics released provide estimates of the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on Census Day broken down by age and sex, along with information on the number of households.

The Census is widely acknowledged as playing a fundamental and unique role in the provision of comprehensive and robust population statistics. Census information is needed to form policy, to plan services for specific groups of people and, especially, to make effective use of resources through distributing them to where they are needed most.

Key users of information from the Census include both central and local government, academia, organisations undertaking research, the private, business and voluntary sectors and the general public.