Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO) released the Population and Migration Estimates for the 12 months to the end of April 2024 on Tuesday, August 27.
The population in Ireland rose by 98,700 people during that period, which was the largest 12-month increase since 2008, the CSO said on Tuesday.
There were 149,200 immigrants, which was a 17-year high. This was the third successive 12-month period where over 100,000 people immigrated to Ireland.
Of those immigrants, 30,000 were returning Irish citizens, 27,000 were other EU citizens, and 5,400 were UK citizens. The remaining 86,800 immigrants were citizens of other countries.
Over 69,000 people departed the State in the 12 months to April 2024, compared with 64,000 in the same period of 2023. This is the highest emigration figure since 2015.
There was a natural increase of 19,400 people in the State comprised of 54,200 births and 34,800 deaths.
In the year to April 2024, the population of Ireland saw the largest 12-month increase since 2008https://t.co/nQgUEHqYdY#CSOIreland #Ireland #Population #PopulationEstimates #Migration #MigrationEstimates@citizensinfo @davidmurphyRTE @IrelandAMVMTV @irishtv @LatedebateRTE pic.twitter.com/9g9RLaoGPH
— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) August 27, 2024
Commenting on the data, Eva Leahy, 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 (more people having arrived than left), of 79,300 in the year to April 2024, compared with 77,600 in the previous year."
The CSO shared these key findings from the Population and Migration Estimates for the 12 months to the end of April 20244:
Immigration
The CSO says that the number of immigrants in the 12 months to April 2024 was the highest since the year to April 2007 and consisted of 30,000 returning Irish citizens, 27,000 other EU citizens, 5,400 UK citizens, and 86,800 other citizens, including Ukrainians.
Emigration
The number of emigrants in the 12 months to April 2024 was the highest since the year to April 2015 and consisted of 34,700 Irish citizens, 10,600 other EU citizens, 3,000 UK citizens, and 21,500 other citizens including Ukrainians.
Population Trends
There were 833,300 people living in Ireland aged 65 and over in April 2024. Those aged 65 and over showed an increase in population share between 2018 and 2024 (increasing from 13.8% to 15.5% of the total), a volume increase of 156,800 people.
There were more than a million (1,010,300) people living in Ireland aged 0-14 in April 2024. This age group had a fall in population share between 2018 and 2024, falling from 20.8% to 18.8% of the total population, a volume decrease of 4,100.
Looking at where people reside, the proportion of the population living in Dublin has risen from 28.1% of the total in 2018 to 28.5% of the total in 2024 and now stands at 1,534,900 people."
The CSO noted on Tuesday: "These annual estimates are based on a usual residence population concept whereas the Census of Population is based on a de facto population concept which means that results are not directly comparable.
"There is a revisions process carried out after each Census on the estimates for that preceding intercensal period, this process was carried out in the Population and Migrations Estimates April 2023 release."
The Irish Times reported that Taoiseach Simon Harris responded to the findings on Tuesday, saying: “There’s no doubt governments, the Government that I lead, will now need to do a better job in terms of forward planning, preparing for population growth, wondering what that means for public services, what that means for investment, what that means for staffing levels."
The Taoiseach, who was speaking in Paris following a bilateral meeting with President of France Emmanuel Macron, added: “Inward migration is a good thing. We should be very clear about that.
"What Ireland needs to do is make sure it has the systems in place to properly process people, to provide people who are coming seeking international protection with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ more quickly.
"If it’s a ‘yes’, welcome them, integrate them, help them work in our economy, where we desperately need people to work in some sectors. If it’s a ‘no’, make sure they leave our jurisdiction much more quickly.
“I’m proud of some of the progress we’ve made in terms of processing times for international protection, but I also acknowledge there’s much more that needs to be done in that area.”
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