Christmas week saw greatest movement of people, official data confirms

According to figures from the CSO, just under 52% of people stayed within 10km of their home each day for the week up to Christmas Eve.

People travelling more than 10km from their homes was at its highest at any time during the Covid-19 pandemic in the week leading up to Christmas, official data has suggested.

According to figures from the CSO, just under 52% of people stayed within 10km of their home each day for the week up to Christmas Eve. A week later, that had increased to 58%, the data showed.

It is in contrast to the first lockdown of 2020, when staying near to home peaked, with just under 77% of the population estimated to have stayed local each day for the week ending April 15.

During the second wave of the pandemic, almost 63% of the population were estimated to have stayed local each day of the week ending November 4, the CSO said.

In January and February, before pandemic restrictions, on average 56.5% of the population were estimated to have stayed local each day.

The data was collated based on a statistical analysis of aggregated mobile phone activity records from Three Ireland, which was anonymised, and provided to the Department of Health. No personal data was compromised, the CSO said.

The divide between countryside and city movement was highlighted with county-by-county patterns.

Counties with high urbanisation tend to have greater numbers of people staying local, reflecting population density and proximity to essential services such as schools and shops, the CSO said.

Senior statistician John Dunne said: “Propensity to stay within 10km of residence tends to differ by county. 

"For example, Dublin, with a high level of urbanisation, consistently shows the highest percentage of persons staying local, while Roscommon and Mayo, with low levels of urbanisation, have the lowest percentage of persons staying within 10km of home."