County Wicklow 

• Population: 142,425 (4.21 % growth since 2011 Census)
• Population density: 70.2 per km2
• Under age 25: 34% (national average 33%)
• Over age 65: 13% (national average 13%)
• Average household income: €73,204 (103.2% of national average)
• Average rent / house price: €1,003 per month / €282,126

Population of largest towns in County Wicklow 

• Bray: 32,600
• Greystones: 18,140
• Arklow: 13,163
• Wicklow Town: 10,584

County Wicklow skills indicators

• Participation rate: 62.2% of labour force (national average 61.4%)
• Third level graduates 34.1% of labour force (national average 31.2%)
• STEM-related graduates 8% of labour force (national average 7.3%)
• Above average proportion employed in high value industrial sector of ‘Information & Communication, Financial and Professional Services’ – 22%

Visitor numbers

• 248,000 international visitors during 2015 (17% increase on 2014 figures), generating €82 million revenue (ranked 9th county nationwide) – an increase of 9% on 2014 figure.
• Wicklow is well positioned to benefit from increasing tourism business with added leverage from Fáilte Ireland’s current ‘Ireland’s Ancient East’ campaign.

Connectivity

• Wicklow offers excellent broadband coverage to 74% of premises (national average 57%).
• The N81 national route serves the west of the County and the N11 / M11 corridor (part of Euro Route E01) provides easy access to ports at Rosslare, Dublin, Arklow and Wicklow; the latter being designated as a port of regional significance. All of County Wicklow is within easy reach of Dublin Airport.
• Wicklow County Council offers a range of business supports via the Economic Development Unit which includes the Local Enterprise Office. Assistance is available to SME’s and start-ups in addition to expanding and relocating businesses. A range of digital data and mapping services enable demographic data to be mapped through Geographical Information Systems as an additional business planning support.
• Enhanced working relationships with the business sector have been established through events such as the business breakfast initiative and production of a quarterly web-based business newsletter.
• A small-business support grant / rates incentive scheme at 5% of the annual bill (up to a maximum of €250) is available to qualifying ratepayers.
• A new web portal (www.wicklow.ie) for ‘all things Wicklow’ will be launched in 2017 to act as an umbrella for the existing and updated Council website, visitwicklow.ie and a brand new business element. The use of social media will be streamlined and enhanced across the portal.
  • In helping the retail sector to realise a maximum economic return we have introduced an Age Friendly Business programme, the Purple Flag initiative in Bray to the benefit of the night-time economy and facilitated the development of Town Teams.
• The development of the Florentine Centre in Bray represents a high value retail project which will serve to revitalise the town centre.
• Wicklow County Campus is a centre of excellence developed in partnership between Wicklow County Council and the Institute of Technology, Carlow. This offers a range of internationally recognised higher education and training opportunities and is home to the Wicklow Local Enterprise Office (LEO).
• The Wicklow Film Commission provides support and assistance to companies wishing to film in Wicklow. The creative content sector is an important pillar of the County Wicklow economy and to further the development of film studio infrastructure, Wicklow County Council has applied zero planning development contributions to this sector.
• Connect Wicklow engaged with the IDA’s Connect Ireland initiative in an innovative way to create new jobs in the County by harnessing the power of the global Diaspora at home and abroad.