Baby names, house prices, car sales: How Ireland has changed in the last 50 years
The CSO said that, for many items in the consumer basket, prices from 1973 are not directly comparable, but said what was included in the basket “tells its own story”. File picture: Denis Minihane
Ireland’s mammoth changes over the 50 years since we joined the European Union have been outlined in a new release from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Tuesday, covering everything from house prices and our workforce to baby names and the cars we drive.
“This release charts some of the changes in Ireland’s economic and social history to mark this 50-year milestone,” the CSO said. “Although not all changes can be attributed to our membership of the EU, it has been a significant factor when looking at economic and social progress in Ireland.”
It said that 1973 was a year of significant change in Ireland as Éamon de Valera stepped down as president at the age of 90, the people had just voted to remove the “special position” of the Roman Catholic Church in the Constitution and the ban on employing married women in the civil service was lifted.
The CSO stats show that the average cost of a home in Ireland in 1973 was IR£7,095, the equivalent of €9,009. In June 2023, the average cost of a home reached €318,000.
"We can see that average prices remained below €90,000 even up until the 1990s, then climbed to €267,589 in the 2000s linked to the Celtic Tiger economy, but fell to €244,917 in the 2010s before starting to rise again,” the CSO said.
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In 1973, 24% of the workforce were employed in the agriculture sector but this had fallen to just 4% in 2022.
The amount of money people earned has also changed significantly, with nominal average weekly earnings of industrial workers at IR£30.12 (€38.25) in 1973 and at €825.01 in 2022, the CSO said.
The number of people in full-time third-level education has risen drastically in the years since Ireland joined the EU. In the years 2016-17, there were 181,039 people at third level, a rise of 583% on the 1972-1973 academic year.
Furthermore, Ireland’s rate of 30-34-year-olds with a third-level qualification of 62% is the second highest in the EU. This is 20 percentage points higher than the EU average of 42%. Ireland also has the fourth-lowest gender difference when it comes to educational attainment among this age group.
In 1973, John and Mary were the most popular names for boys and girls born in Ireland. They remained at the top until the 1980s before beginning to decline. Many of the popular names of the time such as Catherine, Margaret, Michael and Patrick have all declined in popularity over the years.
“It is interesting to note that some names that were popular in the 1970s such as Raymond, Gerald, and Cornelius, or Geraldine, Jacqueline, and Deirdre have now all fallen outside the top 100 rankings,” the CSO said.
“However, names like Rose, Alice, Henry, and Arthur which were once high in the rankings and whose popularity declined in the 1980s and 1990s are currently enjoying a resurgence.” In 2022, the most popular names were Jack, Noah and James for boys and Emily, Grace and Fiadh for girls.
The CSO said that, for many items in the consumer basket, prices from 1973 are not directly comparable, but said what was included in the basket “tells its own story”.
Economic and Social Change in Ireland from 1973-2023https://t.co/SlLGm75Tj0#CSOIreland #Ireland #EU #IEU50 #IrelandEU50 #50yearsEU #Population #BabyNames #Marriages #CarMakes #Transport #Economy #EconomicIndicators #LabourMarket #Migration #TimeLine pic.twitter.com/ZVS09echic
— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) October 17, 2023
In the '70s, the CSO only collected data on a gin and tonic, and a vodka and white, as a “lounge bar sale”. This was most likely due to the fact that many pubs would only allow women drink in the lounge section of a bar. In 1975, the price of a bottle of wine was only collected as a “restaurant-only sale”.
The CSO also then collected the price of a telephone call and sending a telegram, while now it collects the costs of mobile phone and broadband services.
Turning to cars, the CSO said that Ford was the most popular car make in 1972 but no longer features in the top five. Toyota is now a top-selling car brand, but just one Toyota was sold in Ireland in 1972. Furthermore, two Porsches were registered in Ireland back in 1972, while 376 were registered last year.
“Our economic fortunes have also changed dramatically as evidenced by the dramatic change in the Balance of Trade in Goods which went from -IR£268 million (-€340 million) in 1973 to +€67.6 billion in 2022,” the CSO added.
“Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in real terms in the year 2022 was more than 10 times that of 1973.
