The population in Northern Ireland is now 1,810,900 - the highest ever recorded.

The first of the Census 2011 figures released today show that in the past ten years the Northern Ireland population has increased by 125,600, which is up 7 per cent.

This represents the fastest growth in population between consecutive censuses since the 1960s.

This means that the population on the island of Ireland has reached 6.4 million.

Despite the increase in the overall population the number of children has fallen by 18,700 (5 per cent) since the 2001 census.

However while the number of schoolchildren up to the compulsory school going age of 15 in Northern Ireland has fallen by 9 per cent the number of pre-school children aged up to three years has increased by 10 per cent.

Fifty years ago half of the population lived in households with five or more people but now only 22 per cent of the population live in such households

In 1961 only 34 per cent of households contained up to two people compared with 58 per cent of such households now.

The trend towards smaller household sizes means that the number of households is increasing more rapidly than the number of people. Over the last decade the number of households has increased by 12 per cent compared to the population growth of 7 per cent.

Further details from the Northern Ireland 2011 census will be released later this year and next year including the religious breakdown of the population which is important in assessing unionist and nationalist political trends.