Irish people are saddled with record debt, increased crime and relatively high levels of poverty, yet they also have have a better standard of health and education than ever before.
These are among the findings contained in the Central Statistics Office's (CSO) Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2008, which bring together findings across a range of topics over the past year.
Among the areas that has transformed most in recent years is the traditional family unit. Figures show cohabiting couples are now the fastest growing type of family in the State, up from 77,600 in 2002 to 121,800 in 2006.
The number of divorced persons has increased from 35,000 to 59,500 between 2002 and 2006, a rise of 70 per cent. There were just 95 divorces in 1997, the first full year of its introduction.
While family types may be changing, marriage is an institution growing in popularity.
There were 22,544 marriages registered in 2007, compared to 16,783 marriages in 1998. In fact, marriage figures are at their highest since 1974.
Civil marriage, too, is increasingly popular: They accounted for just half a per cent of marriages in 1970, while in 2005 they accounted for 22 per cent.
While the figures in the CSO's yearbook related mostly to 2007 and 2006 - predating the economic downturn - it still captures an alarming level of personal debt.
Lending by credit institutions to the private households increased to a record €148 billion in 2007, up €14 billion on the previous year.
In the area of public finances, a deficit of €10 billion was recorded in the current account of the balance of the payments in 2007. The average deficit over the last five year was €4.6 billion.
Poverty has dropped slightly, although the rates remain high in international terms.
The proportion of the population who experienced some element of enforced deprivation fell from 19 to 18 per cent between 2005 and 2006. However, the number of people experiencing consistent poverty rose slightly.
Members of lone-parent households had the highest deprivation levels (65 per cent).
The country is also becoming more ethnically diverse. Some 188 countries were represented in the non-Irish national population. However 82 per cent of these came from only 10 countries: UK, Poland, Lithuania, Nigeria, Latvia, US, China, Germany, Philippines and France.
The number of non-Irish nationals enumerated as part of the 2006 census was 420,000, representing 10 per cent of the usually resident population.
