THIS WEEK THE Central Statistics Office (CSO) released its annual yearbook, which gives a snapshot of what was happening in Ireland in the space of a year.

Though some of the statistics used are based on the 2011 Census, it still gives a fairly good overview of where the country stood in 2014.

With a population of 4.6 million, there are around 2.28 million males and 2.34 million females here – almost a 50/50 split.

The estimated average age of the population stands at 37 and people are living for longer.

Statista Statista

More than 67,000 babies were born last year, 22,000 people were married and 29,095 people died.

On the economic side of things, the volume of retail sales in all businesses increased by 6.4% on the previous year with sales of furniture and lighting seeing a particular bump.

Weekly disposable income per person was just over €404 based on 2013 figures.

Statista Statista

And when it came to crime, there was a drop in most offences between 2013 and last year.

Theft and related offences remained the most prominent. There were 30 homicides and almost 300 assaults in members of An Garda Síochána.

For more from the Statistical Yearbook, go to the CSO Website.

- Infographs provided by Statista and the CSO.