The government has published the 2023 results of its annual Health Ireland Survey.
The annual survey gives an up-to-date picture of the health of the nation, reporting on many health-related lifestyle behaviours.
The data from Healthy Ireland Surveys is used to underpin policy development and implementation, to monitor, measure and evaluate progress in implementing various elements of the Healthy Ireland Framework.
General Health
In 2023, 80% report being in “good” or “very good” health, while 4% report being in “bad” or “very bad” health.
Between 2015-2019, 85% typically reported being in good or very good health, however this has been declining since 2019. The proportion of people rating their health as “good” or “very good” has declined by 2-points in 2023 from 82% in 2022.
Two in five people (40%) have a long-term health condition that has been confirmed by a medical diagnosis, an increase of 11 points since 2021 (29%)
The most common condition is high blood pressure or hypertension (9%), followed by arthritis (6%), high cholesterol, asthma and diabetes (all 5%).
Smoking
18% of the population are current smokers, with 14% daily smokers and 4% occasional smokers. These figures are the same as those reported in 2021-2022.
33% of the population are ex-smokers. 49% of those who have smoked in the past year have attempted to quit smoking, with 23% of this group successfully quitting smoking. 58% used willpower alone, 25% used e-cigarettes, and 19% used nicotine replacement therapy.
8% of the population currently use e-cigarettes either daily (5%) or occasionally (3%), with a further 12% reporting they have tried them in the past but no longer use them. In 2022, 6% were current users of e-cigarettes.
Alcohol consumption
70% of individuals aged 15 or older report consuming alcohol during the past 12 months. This is lower than the 75% prevalence rate reported in 2018, before the Covid-19 pandemic.
38% of people drink at least once a week. This is broadly the same as measured in 2021 (37%), but lower than 2018 (41%). 21% drink multiple times per week, with men more likely to binge drink.
Mental Health
The average Energy and Vitality Index score, measuring positive mental health, is 65.3 in 2023. Higher positive mental health is reported by men (67.4) than women (63.3).
The Mental Health Index, MHI-5, measures negative mental health. The average MHI-5 score is 78.2, an improvement on 2021, when the average score was 76.0. However, this remains below the 2016 score, which was 81.2
Quality of Life
When asked to rate their quality of life, 86% of the population said that their quality of life is ‘good’ or ‘very good’ at the moment. Just 5% of the population say that their quality of life is ‘poor’ or ‘very poor.’
Social Connectedness
Over one third (35%) of the population say they feel more socially connected since Covid-19 restrictions were eased, while 22% say they feel less socially connected and 43% say that their social connectedness has not changed since Covid-19 restrictions eased.
The youngest age group (15–24 year-olds) are most likely to feel more socially connected (48%), compared to 31% of 45-54 year olds and 30% of people aged 75 and over.
4% of the population say they often or always feel lonely, while a further 10% say they feel lonely some of the time. People who live in Dublin are also more likely to say they often or always feel lonely (5%) compared to 3% of people living outside of Dublin.
Drug Use
21% of respondents report lifetime illegal drug use; 7% report illegal drug use in the last year, and 3% report illegal drug use in the last month.
The most popular illegal drugs used within the last year are cannabis (5.9%), cocaine (1.9%), ecstasy or MDMA (0.8%), magic mushrooms (0.8%) and ketamine (0.4%).
