The collapse of Ireland's construction industry has created the unforeseen situation of women outnumbering men in the State.

Since the demise of the Celtic Tiger's construction explosion, male immigrants, who had come looking for work, are leaving in their droves.

According to the 2011 census, there are 43,864 more females than males in the State. This represents the widest margin of difference between the sexes identified by any census since 1946, when there were 1,031 males for every 1,000 females.

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According to the CSO report: "Having indicated a male excess for over twenty years from 1961 to 1981, the sex ratio began to decline steadily from 1986 onwards showing fewer males than females in each census; it reached a low point in 1996 with 986 males for every 1,000 females.

"In 2006 it changed direction again and showed marginally more males than females. It has now reversed again and these preliminary results show 43,864 more females than males overall in the State, resulting in a sex ratio of 981 males for every 1,000 females."

Preliminary results from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published on Friday showed that the Irish population has grown to 4,581,269 people, a rise of almost 300,000 since 2006. The rise equates to an annual average increase of 80,661, which is the highest on record.

The biggest change was in the midlands, which had undergone a 12% increase in the last five years.

(DW/GK)