Editing County Wicklow (section)

==Demographics==
===Population===
[[File:County Wicklow Population Density Map (2016).png|thumb|upright=1.12|Wicklow's population is primarily concentrated along the east coast|right]]
{{Historical populations
|state=collapsed
|1659|6066
|1821|110767
|1831|121557
|1841|126143
|1851|98979
|1861|86479
|1871|78697
|1881|70386
|1891|62136
|1901|60824
|1911|60711
|1926|57591
|1936|58569
|1946|60451
|1951|62590
|1956|59906
|1961|58473
|1966|60428
|1971|66295
|1979|83950
|1981|87449
|1986|94542
|1991|97265
|1996|102683
|2002|114676
|2006|126194
|2011|136640
|2016|142425
|2022|155485
||footnote=<ref name=cso2022/><ref>For 1653 and 1659 figures from Civil Survey Census of those years, Paper of Mr Hardinge to Royal Irish Academy 14 March 1865.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.cso.ie/census|title= Server Error 404 – CSO – Central Statistics Office|website= www.cso.ie|access-date= 23 March 2018|archive-date= 20 September 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100920090814/http://cso.ie/census|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.histpop.org/ohpr/servlet/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507023856/http://www.histpop.org/|url-status=dead|title=HISTPOP.ORG – Home|archivedate=7 May 2016|website=www.histpop.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nisra.gov.uk/front|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217095720/http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census|url-status=dead|title=Home|archivedate=17 February 2012|website=Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|last= Lee|first= JJ| author-link = J. J. Lee (historian)|editor-last= Goldstrom|editor-first= J. M.|editor2-last= Clarkson
|editor2-first= L. A.|title= Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell
|year= 1981|publisher= Clarendon Press|location= Oxford, England
|chapter= On the accuracy of the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Pre-famine]] Irish censuses}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Mokyr | first1 = Joel
 | author-link = Joel Mokyr | last2 = Ó Gráda | first2 = Cormac
 | author2-link = Cormac Ó Gráda | title = New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850 | journal = The Economic History Review | volume = 37 | issue = 4
 | pages = 473–488 | series = Volume |date= November 1984
 | url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121204160709/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2012-12-04 | doi = 10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x 
| hdl = 10197/1406| hdl-access = free }}</ref><ref name=cso2016>{{cite web | url = http://census.cso.ie/sapmap2016/Results.aspx?Geog_Type=CTY31&Geog_Code=2AE19629149E13A3E055000000000001 | title = Census 2016 Sapmap Area: County Wicklow | publisher = [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)]] | access-date = 8 January 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190108100913/http://census.cso.ie/sapmap2016/Results.aspx?Geog_Type=CTY31&Geog_Code=2AE19629149E13A3E055000000000001 | archive-date = 8 January 2019 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
}}
As of the [[2016 Republic of Ireland census|2016 census]], the resident population of Wicklow was 142,425, a 4.2% increase since the [[Census of Ireland 2011]].<ref name="cso2016" /> The county's population is one of the fastest growing in the country, increasing 38.7 percent in the 20 years between 1996 and 2016. However, its share of the [[Mid-East Region, Ireland|Mid East]]'s population has steadily fallen as Meath and Kildare have experienced even more rapid population growth.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wicklow.ie/Living/Services/Planning/Development-Plans-Strategies/National-Regional-County-Plans/Wicklow-County-Development-Plan/Wicklow-County-Development-Plan-2010-2016 |title=Wicklow County Development Plajn 2010–2016 |website=wicklow.ie |accessdate=21 August 2021 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all |archive-date=6 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906233913/https://www.wicklow.ie/Living/Services/Planning/Development-Plans-Strategies/National-Regional-County-Plans/Wicklow-County-Development-Plan/Wicklow-County-Development-Plan-2010-2016 }}</ref> While Bray remains by far the largest town in the county, improved transport links to Dublin such as upgrades to the [[N11 road (Ireland)|M11]] and the completion of the [[M50 motorway (Ireland)|M50]] in 2005 encouraged the growth of towns further south. Between 2002 and 2016 Bray grew by 5.3 percent. By contrast, over the same period [[Arklow]] grew by 32.2 percent, [[Greystones]] grew by 53.3 percent and [[Rathnew]] grew by 133.9%.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.wicklow.ie/Living/Services/Planning/Development-Plans-Strategies/National-Regional-County-Plans/Wicklow-County-Development-Plan/Wicklow-County-Development-Plan-2016-2022 | title = Wicklow County Development Plan 2016–2022 | publisher = [[Wicklow County Council]] | access-date = 6 September 2021 | archive-date = 6 September 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210906213846/https://www.wicklow.ie/Living/Services/Planning/Development-Plans-Strategies/National-Regional-County-Plans/Wicklow-County-Development-Plan/Wicklow-County-Development-Plan-2016-2022 | url-status = live }}</ref>

The most densely populated areas of the county are concentrated in the northeast, with over 50 percent of Wicklow's residents living within {{convert|15|km|mi|0}} of the [[County Dublin|Dublin]] border.<ref name="SAPMAPS, Settlements">{{cite web | url = https://cso.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=4d19cf7b1251408c99ccde18859ff739 | title = SAPMAPS, Settlements | publisher = [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)]] | access-date = 28 August 2021 | archive-date = 24 June 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201559/https://cso.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=4d19cf7b1251408c99ccde18859ff739 | url-status = live }}</ref> Many of the county's largest urban areas are clustered in this region along an axis stretching from [[Bray, County Wicklow|Bray]] to [[Newtownmountkennedy]], which incorporates [[Greystones]], [[Delgany]], [[Enniskerry]], [[Kilmacanogue]], [[Kilpedder]] and [[Kilcoole]]. Outside of this region, [[Wicklow]], [[Rathnew]] and [[Arklow]] are the only sizable towns in the eastern portion of the county, while [[Blessington]] is the only large settlement in west Wicklow.

The county's interior is very sparsely populated, with only a few small settlements located in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains such as [[Rathdrum, County Wicklow|Rathdrum]], [[Laragh, County Wicklow|Laragh]], [[Roundwood]] and [[Tinahely]]. Most [[Small Area Population Statistics|small areas]] in central Wicklow have a population density of less than 20 people per km2, compared with an average of 77 people per km2 in the county as a whole.<ref name="SAPMAPS, Settlements"/>

The gender makeup of the county in 2016 was 50.74% female and 49.26% male. 29.0% of the population were under the age of 19; 58% were between the ages of 19 and 64; and 13.0% were 65 years of age or older.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.cso.ie/ |title=Profile 3 – An Age Profile of Ireland. E3006 – Population 2011 to 2016 |website=CSO |accessdate=26 August 2021 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all |archive-date=25 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825074214/https://data.cso.ie/ }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size: 90%;"
|+ '''Wicklow ethnic composition of population'''
|-
! Ethnicity !! Population (2016) !! Percentage
|-
| White || 134,274 || 95.2% 
|-
| Asian || 2,310 || 1.6%
|-
| Others including mixed || 1,659 || 1.2%
|-
| Black || 524 || 0.4% 
|-
| Not stated || 2,313 || 1.6%
|}

Whites of any ethnic background constituted 95.2% of the population in 2016: 86.0% were White Irish, 0.6% [[Irish Traveller]], and 8.6% White of any other background.

Asians were the second largest ethnic group, comprising 1.6% of the county's population, followed by mixed race or other backgrounds at 1.2%. Just over 2,300 people (1.6%) did not state their ethnicity.

Accounting for just 0.4% of the population, Wicklow has by far the lowest percentage of black residents in the [[Greater Dublin Area]]. The 2016 census recorded 524 black residents in Wicklow, of which 408 (78%) were of African descent and 116 (22%) were of other black backgrounds.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.cso.ie/ |title=Profile 8 – Irish Travellers, Ethnicity and Religion. E8001 – Population Usually Resident and Present in the State 2011 to 2016 |website=CSO |accessdate=26 August 2021 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all |archive-date=25 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825074214/https://data.cso.ie/ }}</ref>

===Urban areas===
[[File:Bray Promenade-1.jpg|thumb|right|Bray]]
[[File:Greystones harbour.jpg|thumb|right|Greystones]]
[[File:North Quay, Arklow - geograph.org.uk - 305880.jpg|thumb|right|Arklow]]
The 2016 census recorded that 65 percent of County Wicklow's residents lived in urban areas (settlements with a population greater than 1,500) and 35 percent lived in rural areas. Of County Wicklow's rural population, roughly 26 percent (36,800 people) live in the open countryside outside of any designated settlements, while 9 percent (13,032 people) live in settlements with less than 1,500 people.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.hse.ie/eng/about/who/healthwellbeing/healthy-ireland/partnerships/wicklow.pdf | title = Wicklow Local Economic and Community Plan (LECP) 2016–2022 | publisher = [[Health Service Executive]] | access-date = 27 August 2021 | archive-date = 6 September 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210906213851/https://www.hse.ie/eng/about/who/healthwellbeing/healthy-ireland/partnerships/wicklow.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref>  According to the [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)|CSO]] report ''Urban and Rural Life in Ireland 2019'', County Wicklow (alongside County Kildare) has the highest proportion of residents living in [[satellite town]]s.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30970798.html | title = CSO report highlights differences between urban and rural life in Ireland | date = 16 December 2019 | newspaper = [[Irish Examiner]] |first=Kevin |last=O'Neill | access-date = 31 August 2021 | archive-date = 6 September 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210906213846/https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30970798.html | url-status = live }}</ref>

The 10 largest settlements in the county are listed below. The county town is marked in '''bold'''.
{| class=wikitable
|+ Most populous settlements in County Wicklow
|-
! Rank
! City
! Population ([[2022 census of Ireland|2022]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/ireland/towns/WW__wicklow/ | website=City Population | title=Towns in County Wicklow | accessdate=16 May 2025 }}</ref>
|-
| 1
| [[Bray, County Wicklow|Bray]]{{efn|group=othco|Part in [[County Dublin]].}}
| style="text-align: right;" | 33,512
|-
| 2
| [[Greystones]]–[[Delgany]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 22,009
|-
| 3
| [[Arklow]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 13,399
|-
| 4
| '''[[Wicklow]]'''
| style="text-align: right;" | 12,957
|-
| 5
| [[Blessington]]{{efn|group=othco|Part in [[County Kildare]].}}
| style="text-align: right;" | 5,611
|-
| 6
| [[Kilcoole]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 4,569
|-
| 7
| [[Newtownmountkennedy]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 3,539
|-
| 8
| [[Rathnew]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 3,482
|-
| 9
| [[Rathdrum, County Wicklow|Rathdrum]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 2,264
|-
| 10
| [[Enniskerry]]
| style="text-align: right;" | 2,000
|}
{{notelist|group=othco}}

===Migration===
As of 2016, around 85% of Wicklow's population was born within the Republic of Ireland, and a further 0.9% was born in [[Northern Ireland]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.cso.ie/ |title=Profile 7 – Migration and Diversity. E7050 – Population Usually Resident and Present in the State 2011 to 2016 |website=CSO |accessdate=26 August 2021 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all |archive-date=25 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825074214/https://data.cso.ie/ }}</ref> Just over 38% of Wicklow's usually resident population was born within the county, making it the second least indigenous county in Ireland, after Meath. While around 35% of the county's population was born in neighbouring Dublin, it is likely that a significant portion of these are Wicklow natives who were born in one of Dublin's many hospitals.

People born in the [[United Kingdom]] are by far the largest immigrant group, comprising 5.9% of Wicklow's population (8,388 people). Of this group, only around half (4,045 people) stated that they were either UK or dual Irish-UK citizens. The [[Polish people|Poles]] are the second largest immigrant group, constituting 2.0% of the county's population. The census recorded 2,905 Polish citizens in Wicklow, of which 2,759 were born in [[Poland]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cp7md/p7md/p7anii/ |title=Census of Population 2016 – Profile 7 Migration and Diversity |website=CSO |accessdate=26 August 2021 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all |archive-date=1 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101174351/https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cp7md/p7md/p7anii/ }}</ref> The fastest growing major immigrant groups between 2011 and 2016 were [[Romanians]], [[Indian people|Indians]] and [[Filipinos]]. There was also a large increase in the number of [[Brazilians]] (+107%), [[Italians]] (+59%) and [[Spaniards]] (+53%) living in Wicklow over this period.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Main immigrant groups, 2016<ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.cso.ie/ |title=Profile 7 – Migration and Diversity. E7050 – Population Usually Resident and Present in the State 2011 to 2016 |website=CSO |accessdate=26 August 2021 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all |archive-date=25 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825074214/https://data.cso.ie/ }}</ref>
|-
! Country of birth
! {{flag|United Kingdom}}
! {{flag|Poland}}
! {{flag|United States}}
! {{flag|Lithuania}}
! {{flag|Philippines}}
! {{flag|Romania}}
! {{flag|India}}
! {{flag|Germany}}
! {{flag|South Africa}}
! {{flag|China}}*
|-
| Population (2016)
| 8,388
| 2,759
| 849
| 767
| 644
| 624
| 498
| 458
| 409
| 404
|-
| % of total population
| 5.9%
| 2.0%
| 0.6%
| 0.5%
| 0.46%
| 0.44%
| 0.35%
| 0.32%
| 0.29%
| 0.29%
|-
| % of immigrant population
| 39.8%
| 13.1%
| 4.0%
| 3.6%
| 3.1%
| 3.0%
| 2.4%
| 2.2%
| 1.9%
| 1.9%
|-
| Change since 2011
| −203 ({{decrease|}} 2.4%)
| 164 ({{increase|}} 6.3%)
| 10 ({{increase|}} 1.2%)
| −45 ({{decrease|}} 5.5%)
| 73 ({{increase|}} 12.8%)
| 309 ({{increase|}} 98.1%)
| 107 ({{increase|}} 27.4%)
| 10 ({{increase|}} 2.2%)
| −27 ({{decrease|}} 6.2%)
| −45 ({{decrease|}} 10.0%)
|}
<small>''*Includes [[Hong Kong SAR]]''</small>

===Religion===
[[File:County Wicklow - St Patrick's Church - 20200910180158.jpg|thumb|right|St. Patrick's Church, Wicklow]]
{{bar box
|title=Religion in County Wicklow (2016)
|titlebar=
|left1=Affiliation
|right1=Percent
|float=left
|bars=
{{bar percent|Catholic|DarkOrchid|73.0}}
{{bar percent|No religion|Grey|13.3}}
{{bar percent|Other Christian|Blue|8.8}}
{{bar percent|Other stated religions|Yellow|3.1}}
{{bar percent|Not stated|pink|1.8}}
}}

The 2016 census showed that religious affiliation in Wicklow was as follows: [[Catholic]] 73%, [[Irreligion]] 13.3%, Other Christian 8.8%, Other stated religions 3.1%, and not stated 1.8%.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.cso.ie/ |title=Profile 8 – Irish Travellers, Ethnicity and Religion. E8055 – Population 2011 to 2016 |website=CSO |accessdate=6 September 2021 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all |archive-date=6 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906105851/https://data.cso.ie/ }}</ref>

The single largest religious denomination in 2016 was the Roman Catholic Church, with 103,947 adherents. This is a 4.4% decrease from the 2011 census. Catholicism in Wicklow reached its peak percentage in the 1961 census, when 87.5% of the population identified as Catholic. As of 2016, Wicklow is the second least Catholic county in the State, and among the most irreligious.

Other Christian denominations comprised 8.8% of the population. As a proportion of population, Wicklow has the largest [[Church of Ireland]] affiliation of any county in the Republic of Ireland, at 6.2%, although this figure was historically much higher. The 1901 census recorded that just under 20% of Wicklow's population was affiliated with the Church of Ireland.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.cso.ie/ |title=Census 2011 – This is Ireland Part 1. CDD36 – Population. |website=CSO |accessdate=6 September 2021 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all |archive-date=6 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906105851/https://data.cso.ie/ }}</ref> In 2016 [[Greystones]] had the highest percentage of Protestants in the State (10.5%), and was also Ireland's least religious town, with 18.3% of residents stating they did not follow any religion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/one-in-five-has-no-religion-in-town-closely-linked-to-church-37284183.html |title=One in five has 'no religion' in town closely linked to Church |website=independent.ie |date=5 September 2018 |accessdate=4 September 2021 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all |archive-date=6 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906213845/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/one-in-five-has-no-religion-in-town-closely-linked-to-church-37284183.html }}</ref>

Just over 0.5% of the population adhered to smaller Protestant denominations such as [[Presbyterian]], [[Apostolic Church (disambiguation)|Apostolic]] and [[Pentecostal]]. A further 1.05% of respondents stated that they were "Christian" but did not specify any denomination. [[Eastern Orthodox]] is the fastest growing of the major Christian denominations, increasing from 840 adherents in 2011 to 1,317 in 2016, a 56.7% increase.

The largest non-Christian religions were [[Islam]] (0.4%) and [[Hinduism]] (0.16%). All other stated religions constituted 2.5% of the population, and 1.8% of respondents did not state their religion.