CSO says Ireland has experienced its largest population increase since 2008
The 12 months preceding the end of April 2023 saw the largest 12-month population increase since 2008 in Ireland, according to statistics published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The Population and Migration Estimates were published on Monday and showed that Ireland’s population rose by 97,600 people in the 12 months leading up to the end of April 2023.
There were also 141,600 immigrants recorded during this time, which was a 16-year high, and the second successive 12-month period where over 100,000 people immigrated to Ireland.
CSO Statistician in Population Estimates and Projections, Cathal Doherty, said: “Ireland’s population was estimated to be 5.28 million, rising by 97,600 people in the year to April 2023.
“This was the largest 12-month population increase since 2008 when the population rose by 109,200.”
Population trends
There were 806,300 people living in Ireland aged 65 and over in April 2023, and this age group showed an increase in population share between 2017 and 2023 – increasing by 153,900 people.
The 45-64 age grouping also had a rise in population share between 2017 and 2023 – growing from 24.1% to 25.3% of the total, making it a volume increase of 180,800 people.
The number of people aged between 15 and 24-years-old stands at 667,000 – making it the age group with the least amount of people.
Looking at where people live, the proportion of the population living in Dublin has increased to stand at 1,501,500 people.
This is an increase from 27.6% of the total population in 2011 to 28.4% of the total in 2023, and is the first time the population of Dublin has exceeded 1.5 million people.
There was a natural increase of 20,000 people in the State comprised of 55,500 births and 35,500 deaths.
Immigration and emigration
The number of immigrants to the State in the year to April 2023 is estimated to have grown by just over 31% to 141,600, up from 107,800 when compared with 2022.
“The number of immigrants in the 12 months to April 2023 was the highest since the year to April 2007 and consisted of 29,600 returning Irish citizens, 26,100 other EU citizens, 4,800 UK citizens, and 81,100 other citizens including Ukrainians,” Doherty said.
In relation to emigration, the CSO statistics showed that over 64,000 people departed Ireland in the 12-month period leading to April 2023.
This is up from 56,100 in the same period of 2022 and is one of the highest figures seen in recent years.
31% of those who emigrated from Ireland during the 12-month period to April 2023 were aged between 15 and 24-years-old.
This is a higher portion than the immigrant group, in which 17% were aged between 15 and 24.
More than half (53% or 75,100 people) of the total immigrants were aged between 25 and 44-years-old, and and half (50% or 32,300 people) of the total emigrants were in this age group.
The lowest proportion of migrants were in the 65 years and over age group, with less than 3% of immigrants and fewer than 2% of emigrants in this oldest age group.
There was a higher proportion of immigrants when compared with emigrants in the youngest age group (0-14) in the year to April 2023.
Of the emigrants, 9% were aged between 0 and 14-years-old compared with 15% of the immigrants.
