Convoy is Donegal's fastest growing town

Convoy is the fastest growing town in Donegal and has bucked the trend with most large towns in Donegal falling in population.

The population of the east Donegal town increased from 1,438 in 2011 to 1,526 in 2016, according to the latest figures from the CSO on last year’s census.

The 6.1 per cent increase makes it the fastest growing town in the county and means it is now categorised by the CSO as a large town.

With the population of Donegal dropping as a whole in the last census by 1.2 per cent to 159,192, most towns saw their population drop.

Donegal town’s population also grew, but only by 0.42 per cent , a rise of just 11 from 2,607 to 2,618.

Letterkenny is the biggest town in Ulster with a population of 19,247 and it is now bigger than Sligo for the first time. Letterkenny’s population fell by 1.6 per cent since 2011, while Sligo’s fell by 1.3 per cent to 19,199.

Buncrana is the next biggest town in the county with a population of 6,785, down from 6,839 in 2011.

Ballybofey-Stranorlar is the third biggest town and was the only town in the county that saw its population remain the same over the four years at 4,852.

Donegal town is the fourth biggest town on 2,618 followed by Carndonagh with 2,471, down from 2,534 in 2011.

Donegal’s nine largest towns in order are: Letterkenny, Buncrana, Ballybofey-Stranorlar, Donegal, Carndonagh, Ballyshannon, Bundoran, Lifford and Convoy.

Of a total population of 159,192 in Donegal in April 2016, 27.3% (43,414 persons) lived in urban areas, with 72.7% (115,778 persons) living in rural areas. Nationally, 62.7% lived in urban areas and 37.3% in rural areas. Largest and fastest growing towns Letterkenny, with 19,274 persons, was the largest town in the county. The fastest growing town in percentage terms was Donegal, which experienced 0.42% population growth between 2011 and 2016. Nationally, Drogheda remained the largest town, with 40,956 residents, while Saggart was the fastest growing town, seeing its population increased by 46.1% between 2011 and 2016.
Of the 5,542 usual Donegal residents who moved in the year to April 2016, most (4,341) moved elsewhere within the county.
Only 363 of the 2,520 Donegal households who moved in the year preceding the census bought their new home with a mortgage or loan, while 1,712 rented their accommodation.