Healthy Ireland Survey 2023

The Healthy Ireland Survey is conducted annually, with a representative sample of the population aged 15 and older living in Ireland. The sample size is typically in the region of 7,400 - 7,500 people.

Fieldwork to date has been conducted on behalf of the Department of Health by Ipsos B&A.

The annual Survey gives an up-to-date picture of the health of the nation, reporting on many health-related lifestyle behaviours. This is the eighth set of findings and adds to the data collected in previous Healthy Ireland Surveys, published from 2015 – 2019 and 2021 - 2022.

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, as well as to meet international reporting obligations, including to the OECD, the EU and the WHO, and to provide information to researchers.

The Healthy Ireland Survey is aligned with Ireland’s Well-being Framework, launched in July 2021, which seeks to move beyond using just economic measures in gauging our progress as a country, by looking at economic, environmental and social issues together. The Framework focuses on quality of life, with a particular emphasis on equality and sustainability.

It consists of 11 dimensions which are made up of different aspects of well-being and is supported by a dashboard of 35 indicators which are available on the CSO website.

Detailed statistics and trends from the Healthy Ireland Survey 2015 - 2023 are available here on data.cso.ie.

The Healthy Ireland Survey 2023 Report includes data regarding smoking, alcohol and drug usage rates, mental health, social connectedness and suicide awareness, general health, antibiotic awareness and health service utilisation. A representative sample of people aged 15 and older living in Ireland were interviewed between October, 2022, and April, 2023

The main findings of the 2023 Healthy Ireland Survey are summarised below.

• 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%).
• 36% report long lasting conditions, difficulties or disabilities, with 21% of people limited and 4% severely limited in everyday activities as a result.
• The proportion that are severely limited has remained stable at 4% since 2016, however, the proportion limited, but not severely, has risen by 4 points since 2019.

• 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.
• Smoking is higher amongst men (21%) than women (15%) and higher amongst those who are unemployed or have not completed the Leaving Certificate.
• 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.
• A fifth (20%) of women aged 15-24 use e-cigarettes either daily or occasionally; the rate for men of the same age group is 16%.

• 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.
• Almost three-quarters (73%) of men report drinking alcohol in the past 12 months, compared to 67% of women.
• 38% of people drink at least once a week. This is broadly the same as measured in 2021 (37%), but lower than 2018 (41%). 43% of men drink weekly compared to 34% of women. These gender differences are broadly aligned with 2018.
• 21% drink multiple times per week – similar to 2022 and 2018 (21% and 23% respectively).
• Men are more likely than women to binge drink (37% and 12% respectively), with younger people more likely to do so than older people (15-24 year olds: 36%, 75+ year olds: 7%).

• 12% of all respondents and 14% of drinkers report they often or always see health messages when looking at alcohol packaging, while 59% of all respondents and 53% of drinkers report that they never see health messages on alcohol packaging.
• Alcohol content labels (28%), warnings about drinking alcohol while pregnant (14%), and consumption warnings (13%) are the most common health messages that respondents notice.

• 76% report having visited a GP in the previous 12 months with an average of 4.0 visits per person among all aged 15 and older. Women are more likely than men to have visited a GP in the previous 12 months (83% and 70% respectively).
• This has increased from before the pandemic, in 2019, when 73% had visited a GP during the previous 12 months, however, the average visits per person is down from 4.5 in 2019.
• 85% of those with a full medical card and 80% with a GP Visit card attended a GP in the past 12 months, with an average of 5.8 and 3.8 visits respectively. This compares to 72% among private patients, with an average of 3.1 visits.
• 55% of children identified through the survey attended a GP during the past 12 months with an average of 2.4 visits per child. This is lower than in 2019, when 58% of all children had visited a GP with an average of 3.4 visits per child.
• 37% report attending a nurse-only consultation within a GP practice in the previous 12 months, with an average of 0.4 visits per patient (all averages include those who did not attend in the previous 12 months).
• 9% report using an out of hours GP service in the past year (marginally up from 8% in 2018)

• 36% have visited a medical or surgical consultant in the past year, with an average of 0.4 visits per person
• 4% report using a minor injury unit in a public hospital (up from 3% in 2018).
• 9% report using a medical assessment unit in a public hospital (up from 6% in 2018)
• 16% were admitted to hospital as day patients in the past year.
• 12% were admitted to hospital as in-patients (9% to a public and 3% to a private hospital)
• 16% report using an Emergency Department in the past 12 months (13% in a public and 3% in a private hospital). This has increased from 13% in 2018 (11% public, 2% private).

• There have been significant population increases between 2015 and 2023, with the number of people aged 15 and over increasing by almost 600,000 in that time frame. The Survey data points to an increase of approximately 15% in GP visits between 2015 and 2023.
• Much of that increase is coming from private patients – 64% had attended in the previous 12 months in 2015; this had risen to 72% of private patients by 2023. Increases in overall GP attendance may also be due to higher attendance levels by younger people and women.
• There has been relatively little change in GP attendance rates amongst older people (although the numbers in this age cohort have risen). GP attendance in children was measured in 2019 and 2023; there has been a 3 point decline in the proportion of children attending in this time interval (58% in 2019; 55% in 2023), largely driven by fewer attendances in children under 12.
• People with medical or GP Visit cards visit the GP in higher proportions and more often than private patients, however, the proportion of those with GMS or GP Visit cards visiting the GP has remained relatively stable – 84% had visited the GP in the past 12 months in 2016, as per 2023.
• The proportion of patients consulting a GP practice nurse has risen from 30% in 2015 to 37% in 2023, with increases evident both in private patients (5 point increase) and those holding medical and GP Visit cards (12 point increase).
• The proportions of those admitted to hospital are broadly stable, with an increase seen in day-patient admissions (16% in 2023 vs 14% in 2016). While hospital admissions are more common in older age cohorts, much of the increase has come from younger age cohorts – 15% of those under 55 were admitted as day patients in 2023, compared to 13% in 2016.

• 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).
• This is an increase from when the EVI was last measured, in 2021 at the height of Covid-19 restrictions, when the average was 62.4. However, this remains below the 2016 score, which was 67.8.
• 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
• 12% of respondents have an MHI-5 score of 56 or lower, indicating a probable mental health problem. This is lower than in 2021 (15%) but remains higher than in 2016 (10%).
• The 15-24 age cohort have the lowest MHI-5 scores, 74.3. The prevalence of probable mental health problems in women aged 15-24 has decreased from 27% in 2021 to 24% in 2023, but this remains higher than in 2016, when the score was 14%. MHI-5 scores for men in this age cohort have improved with 13% having probable mental health problems in 2021 and 2023, as opposed to 19% in 2016.

• 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’

• 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.
• When asked “how many people are so close to you that you can count on them if you have serious personal problems”, over one fifth (22%) say they have one - two people, 43% say they can count on three - five people, and 34% have more than five people. 2% of the population say that they have nobody they are close to that they can count on if they have a serious personal problem.
• Two in five people (41%) participate in a social group or club. Men (44%) are more likely than women (38%) to be a member of a social group or club.

• 41% report taking an antibiotic in the previous 12 months. This is significantly higher than the 27% reported in 2021, and 2 points higher than the 39% reporting doing so in 2017. The dip in 2021 is likely reflective of lower levels of prescription of antibiotics during 2020 due to reduced GP visits and lower overall infection rates in the context of the restrictions in place during Covid-19 pandemic.
• There is a broadly consistent gender gap over the life course, with women in all age groups up to the age of 75 more likely than men to have taken an antibiotic.
• In terms of antibiotic awareness, 78% correctly agreed that antibiotics kill bacteria and 59% correctly disagreed that antibiotics can kill viruses. Understanding of antibiotics is higher among women (81% ; 67%) than men (74% ; 50%).

• 21% of respondents report lifetime illicit drug use; 7% report illicit drug use in the last year, and 3% report illicit drug use in the last month.
• The most prevalent illicit 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%).
• 13% of respondents report lifetime use of sedatives/tranquillisers. 7% report last year use, with 4% of those reporting last month use.
• Of those who have used sedatives/tranquillisers, 91% said they were all prescribed, 6% report none were prescribed, and 4% report that some were prescribed and others not.
• Of those who have used sedatives/tranquillisers, men (13%) were more likely to take non-prescription sedatives/tranquillisers than women (4%).

To note, due to its sensitivity, the module on suicide awareness was voluntary and completed by a minority of respondents in each Survey run in 2021-2023. This has the potential to create response bias as those for whom suicide resonates more strongly may have been more likely to take part in the module. Caution is therefore necessary in applying results to the overall population.

• 69% of people know someone who has died by suicide, with 15% of people reporting that someone close to them died in this way.
• 77% of people living in Connaught or Ulster and 74% of people living in Munster know someone who has died by suicide, compared to 61% of people in Dublin and 69% of people in the rest of Leinster.
• 8% of those who know someone who has died by suicide report that the death has a significant or devastating effect on them that they still feel.
• 7% of respondents report that they have attempted to take their own life at some point in the past. Among those under 35, 10% report an attempt to take their own life compared to 1% of those aged 75 and over.
• 16% of those who report their health as being fair or bad, and 10% of those with a long-standing illness or health problem report making an attempt to take their own life.