Number of babies drops by 26% in 14 years

Central Statistics Office (CSO) data shows Ireland's population at 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.

Ageing population

There were 833,300 over-65s in April 2024.

This cohort increased its population share between 2018 and 2024 from 13.8% to 15.5% – a volume increase of 156,800. 

There were 1,376,300 people aged 45-64 in April 2024.

This cohort’s share of the population rose from 24.2% to 25.6% between 2018 and 2024 – an increase of 194,300.

The volume of people living in Ireland aged 15-24 and 25-44 increased by 71,900 and 76,700, respectively, over six years.

The 0-14 age group is the only group that saw a fall in population size between 2018 and 2024.

There are 1,010,300 under-14s – a slight decrease of 4,100 from the 2018 figure of 1,014,400.

Decline in under-10s

A downward trend in births since 2010 has driven declines in under-4s since 2012.

This also led to a decline in 5-9s from 2017 onwards.

There were 55,500 babies under one in April 2024, a volume decrease of 19,400 (-26%) from the 2010 figure of 74,900.

There were 293,200 0-4 years in April 2024, a fall of 65,000 (-18%) from the 2012 figure of 358,200.

There were 335,300 5-9s in April 2024, down 25,400 (-7%) from 2017’s 360,700. 

149,200 immigrants

The number of immigrants in the year to April 2024 was 149,200, while emigrants were estimated at 69,900, the figures show.

This was the third successive 12-month period where over 100,000 people immigrated to Ireland. 

The immigration figure was also the highest since the year to April 2007.

The number of immigrants grew by over 5%  compared with 2023.

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

There were 86,800 immigrants who were ‘rest of world’ citizens in the year to April 2024, with the inflow of Ukrainians contributing significantly.

Emigration close to 70,000

Of the 69,900 emigrants, 34,700 were Irish citizens.

With a total of 30,000 returning Irish citizens, there was a net outward migration of Irish citizens (-4,700) in the 12 months to April 2024.

There were also 21,500 emigrants who were ‘rest of world’ citizens – an increase of 49% on the 2023 figure of 14,400.

Destination of migrants

In the 12 months to April 2024, there was a strong outward flow to Australia.

Estimates show that 10,600 people left Ireland to live in Australia – up from 4,700 last year (+126%).

This is the highest level of emigration to Australia since 2013.

Additionally, 6,400 people moved to Ireland from Australia –  down from 7,700 in 2023 (-17%).

Britain also experienced strong migration flows in the year to April 2024.

Estimates show that 15,200 people left Ireland to live in Britain – up from 14,600 in 2023 (+4%).

And 20,500 people moved here from Britain – up from 18,400 in 2023 (+11%).

Emigrants aged 15-24

In the year to April 2024:

• More than half (52% or 77,200) of the total immigrants and just under half (48% or 33,500) of the total emigrants were aged 25-44,
• Lowest proportion of migrants were over 65.

There were more immigrants than emigrants in the 0-14 age cohort in the period.

A lower proportion of 15-24s were immigrants (17%) compared with emigrants (35%).

Emigration

The number of emigrants was the highest since the year to April 2015 and consisted of:

• 34,700 Irish citizens,
• 10,600 other EU citizens,
• 3,000 British citizens, and
• 21,500 other citizens including Ukrainians.

Trends

The proportion of people living in Dublin has risen from 28.1% of the total in 2018 to 28.5% in 2024.

The capital’s population now stands at 1,534,900.

There was a natural increase of 19,400 people in the State, comprised of 54,200 births and 34,800 deaths.

This represents a drop of 600 (-3%) from the level of natural increase in 2023, and a fall of 6,700 (-26%) on the level of natural increase in 2022.

Rise in usual-residence population

The combination of natural increase and positive net migration led to a population increase of 98,700 (+1.9%) in the year to April 2024.

The trend in population change closely coincides with the trend in net migration between the years 1988 and 2024, the CSO said.