Population

·         The first report based on the 2001 Northern Ireland Census was published on 30 September 2002. According to the report the population of Northern Ireland on Census Day (29 April 2001) was 1,685,267 (1.685 million). There were 821,449 males and 863,818 females.  

·         The population of the United Kingdom on Census Day 2001 was 58.789 million. Northern Ireland therefore constitutes 2.87 per cent of the total UK population.  

·         The age structure of the Northern Ireland population is the youngest in the UK. Children aged under 16 represent 24 per cent of the Northern Ireland population compared to 20 per cent in the UK as a whole.  

·         Conversely, Northern Ireland has proportionately fewer people of pensionable age (16 per cent of the population) compared to the UK (18 per cent). 

The second report of the 2001 Census was published on 19 December 2002. The report provided information on the religious breakdown of the population.  

·         Based on two census questions, 'religion' and 'religion brought up', the breakdown was reported as 43.76% Catholic, 53.13% Protestant, 0.39% Other, 2.72% none.

·         The population in Northern Ireland has been increasing steadily for the past number of years, and according to future projections, it will continue to do so for the next 20 years or so. It has also a relatively young population, with 54.6% being under the age of 35, and 24.7% of whom are under 16 years of age.  

(Source: Population.CAIN (http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/)