Irish population grew by nearly 100,000 to 5.38 million last year

New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that last year's spike was the largest since 2008, as 149,200 immigrants entered the country

By: irishmirror.ie

Aug 28 2024
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Ireland’s population has increased by nearly 100,000 in the past year, the biggest jump since 2008.

The data, which was compiled by the Central Statistics Office, shows the number of people in the country increased by 98,700.

The statistics also reveal there were 149,200 immigrants, which is a 17-year high and was the third year in a row that more than 100,000 moved to Ireland.

They found 30,000 of those were Irish citizens who were moving home, 27,000 came from other EU countries, and the remaining 86,800 came from outside the EU.

Boffins also revealed that 69,000 left Ireland in the 12 months to April 2024, which is 5,000 more than during the same period in 2023. They said this figure represented the highest emigration figure since 2015.

The CSO also revealed there was a natural increase of 19,400 after 54,200 births and 34,800 deaths. They said 833,000 people living in Ireland were 65 or over in April 2024, which represents 15.5 percent of the population – an increase from 13.8 percent in 2018.

The study also found there were 1,010,300 people living in Ireland aged under 14. That marks a decrease from 20.8 percent to 18.8 percent of the total population. The CSO also said there were 1,534,900 Dubliners, which represents 28.5 percent of the entire population of the 5,380,300.

Eva Leahy, a statistician in population estimates and projections, said: “Ireland’s population was estimated to be 5.38 million, rising by 98,700 people in the year to April 2024.

“This was the largest 12-month population increase in 16 years since 2008 when the population rose by 109,200.

“The number of immigrants, or those entering the State, in the year to April 2024 was estimated to be 149,200, while the number of emigrants, or those leaving the State, over the same period was estimated at 69,900.

“These combined flows gave positive net migration, of 79,300 in the year to April 2024, compared with 77,600 in the previous year.”

The data from the CSO also shows in the 12 months to April 2024, more than 10,000 Irish people headed Down Under.

Data shows that 10,600 emigrated to Australia in that period, which is 4,700 more than the year previous. Boffins concluded the number of people who flocked to Oz between April 2023 and 2024 was the highest level of emigration there since 2013.

Sinn Fein TD for Galway West Mairead Farrell said: “We keep being told that the economy is doing well but very clearly something is going wrong for young people here that they feel there is no alternative but to go to Australia.”

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