THE BIRTH RATE in the Republic is higher than in Northern Ireland, while a higher number of people in the North have used illegal drugs, according to new figures compiled by statisticians in the North and South. The South's economy is also healthier although there are more car owners north of the Border.
The comparative facts and figures, which deal with issues such as health, the economy, house prices and crime, are contained in Ireland, North and South: A Statistical Profile, compiled and produced by the Central Statistics Office in the South and the North's Statistics and Research Agency.
The 2006 census shows a population of 4,239,848 in the Republic while the estimated population for Northern Ireland the same year was 1,741,619, revealing an overall population in Ireland of close to six million.
The birth rate in the Republic in 2006 was 15.2 per 1,000 population, compared to 13.4 in the North. During the last two decades, about 60 per cent of all births in the Republic were to mothers aged 30 and over, compared with 50 per cent in the North.
In the North, 28 per cent of the population have reported use of illegal drugs, compared with 24 per cent in the South.
Death rates per 1,000 were lower in the Republic in 2006, at 6.5, compared with 8.3 in the North, reflecting the somewhat younger population in the South.
Over the three-year period 2004-2006, standardised death rates attributed to circulatory diseases decreased from 241 to 207 per 100,000 in the South. In the same period in the North, this rate fell from 232 to 205 per 100,000.
Between 1996 and 2006, the estimated gross value added (GVA) for the Republic rose by over 186 per cent to €152.6 billion. Estimated GVA for the North increased by almost 71 per cent to £26.4 billion (€33.6 billion).
GVA reflects the output per person in the economy and is a key evaluation. Over the same period, the GVA per person in the South increased by more than 145 per cent to €35,986. In the North, the GVA per person increased by nearly 63 per cent to £15,175.
In 1992, the North had 304 cars per 1,000 population, increasing by 46 per cent to 443 cars in 2005. In 1992, the Republic had 242 cars per 1,000 population, increasing by 66 per cent to 402 cars per 1,000 population in 2005.
Between spring 1996 and spring 2006, the employment rate rose from 58.1 per cent to 70.8 per cent in the Republic and from 64.5 per cent to 68.8 per cent in the North. Over the same period, unemployment in the South fell from 12.1 per cent to 4.5 cent. In the North, it fell from 9.7 per cent to 4.4 per cent.
Average house prices in the South more than trebled between 1996 and 2006, while Northern prices more than doubled. In both the Republic and the North, nearly three-quarters of households owned their home outright or through a mortgage.
In 2006-2007, there were approximately 16 pupils per teacher in first-level schools in the Republic compared with approximately 21 in the North. In 2006, the rate of prisoners in custody per 100,000 of the population was 75 in the Republic and 82 in the North.
Between 1991 and 2005, the agricultural labour force fell by 21 per cent in the South and 20 per cent in the North. In 2005, 44 per cent of farmers in the Republic had engaged in other gainful activity, while in the North, it was 37 per cent.
