Demographics of the Republic of Ireland

had an estimated population of 5,458,600 as of 1 April 2025.

Demographic history

The island of Ireland's population has fluctuated over history. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Ireland experienced a major population boom as a result of the Agricultural Revolution|Agricultural] and Industrial Revolutions. In the 50-year period 1790–1840, the population of the island doubled from 4 million to 8 million. At its peak, Ireland's population density was similar to that of England and continental Europe.
This changed dramatically with the Great Famine of the mid-19th century, which led to mass starvation and consequent mass emigration. In the area covering the present day Republic of Ireland, the population reached about 6.5 million in the mid-1840s. Ten years later it was down to 5 million. The population continued a slow decline well into the 20th century, with the Republic recording a low of 2.8 million in the 1961 census.
During the 1960s, the population started to grow once more, although slowly as emigration was still common. In the 1990s the country entered a period of rapid economic growth as a result of the Celtic Tiger Irish economic boom, and the Republic started to receive immigration. Many former Irish emigrants returned home, and Ireland became an attractive destination for immigrants, from other member states in the EU such as Central Europe, but also from outside the EU such as Africa, Asia and elsewhere. With the 2008 onset of the Irish economic and banking crisis, the state's economy suffered, and Ireland has once again been experiencing net emigration of its citizens, but immigration remains high.
In November 2013, Eurostat reported that the Republic had the largest net emigration rate of any member state, at 7.6 emigrants per 1,000 population. However, it has the youngest population of any European Union member state and its population size is predicted to grow for many decades, in contrast with the declining population predicted for most European countries. A report published in 2008 predicted that the population would reach 6.7 million by 2060. The Republic has also been experiencing a baby boom, with increasing birth rates and overall fertility rates. Despite this, the total fertility rate is still below replacement depending on when the measurement is taken. The Irish fertility rate is still the highest of any European country. This increase is significantly fuelled by non-Irish immigration – in 2009, one-quarter of all babies born in Ireland were born to foreign-born mothers.

Population

The population of Ireland was 5,123,536 people in 2022.
Demographic statistics as of 2019.

One birth every 8 minutes
One death every 16 minutes
One net migrant every 90 minutes
Net gain of one person every 14 minutes

; Geographic Population Distribution
Urban population : 62.0%
Rural population: 38.0%

Fertility

The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman.

Year	1850	1851	1852	1853	1854	1855	1856	1857	1858	1859	1860
Total fertility rate of Ireland	4.20	4.13	4.06	3.99	3.93	3.86	3.79	3.72	3.65	3.58	3.51

Year	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875	1876	1877	1878	1879	1880
Total fertility rate of Ireland	3.67	3.72	3.63	3.57	3.51	3.57	3.54	3.40	3.44	3.31

Year	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899
Total fertility rate of Ireland	3.05	3.01	3.09	3.08	3.12	3.17	3.16	3.13	3.09

Birth rate; 13.8 births/1,000 population Country comparison to the world: 137th
Total fertility rate; 1.96 children born/woman Country comparison to the world: 125th
Mother's mean age at first birth; 30.7 years

Life expectancy

Death rate; 6.6 deaths/1,000 population Country comparison to the world: 140th

Period	Life expectancy in Years	Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	66.9	1985–1990	74.2
1955–1960	69.2	1990–1995	75.3
1960–1965	70.1	1995–2000	76.0
1965–1970	70.8	2000–2005	77.8
1970–1975	71.2	2005–2010	79.7
1975–1980	72.0	2010–2015	80.9
1980–1985	73.2

Source: ''UN World Population Prospects''

Age structure

Age structure
Median age; total: 37.1 years

Vital statistics

Structure of the population

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	2 272 699	2 315 553	4 588 252	100
0–4	182 076	174 253	356 329	7.77
5–9	164 037	156 733	320 770	6.99
10–14	155 076	147 415	302 491	6.59
15–19	144 262	138 757	283 019	6.17
20–24	146 636	150 595	297 231	6.48
25–29	173 714	187 408	361 122	7.87
30–34	194 774	199 171	393 945	8.59
35–39	182 237	182 024	364 261	7.94
40–44	166 330	164 482	330 812	7.21
45–49	151 516	153 669	305 185	6.65
50–54	136 737	137 649	274 386	5.98
55–59	122 121	122 401	244 522	5.33
60–64	109 869	108 917	218 786	4.77
65–69	86 298	87 340	173 638	3.78
70–74	63 476	67 714	131 190	2.86
75–79	46 631	55 405	102 036	2.22
80–84	28 423	41 690	70 113	1.53
85–89	13 591	26 296	39 887	0.87
90–94	4 155	10 722	14 877	0.32
95–99	682	2 581	3 263	0.07
100+	58	331	389	0.01
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	501 189	478 401	979 590	21.35
15–64	1 528 196	1 545 073	3 073 269	66.98
65+	243 314	292 079	535 393	11.67

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	2 477 803	2 528 521	5 006 324	100
0–4	155 762	149 311	305 073	6.09
5–9	173 176	164 974	338 150	6.75
10–14	182 865	174 327	357 192	7.13
15–19	164 643	158 528	323 171	6.46
20–24	156 739	151 495	308 234	6.16
25–29	146 911	145 135	292 046	5.83
30–34	155 831	163 136	318 967	6.37
35–39	181 494	197 232	378 726	7.56
40–44	195 943	204 498	400 441	8.00
45–49	179 647	183 297	362 944	7.25
50–54	160 508	161 545	322 053	6.43
55–59	145 919	150 061	295 980	5.91
60–64	130 499	133 847	264 346	5.28
65–69	112 741	115 631	228 372	4.56
70–74	94 777	98 767	193 544	3.87
75–79	67 518	73 623	141 141	2.82
80–84	40 946	50 350	91 296	1.82
85–89	20 870	29 977	50 847	1.02
90–94	8 151	15 395	23 546	0.47
95–99	2 280	5 796	8 076	0.16
100+	583	1 596	2 179	0.04
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	511 803	488 612	1 000 415	19.98
15–64	1 618 134	1 648 774	3 266 908	65.26
65+	347 866	391 135	739 001	14.76

Immigration

immigration history is most of that of a country of emigration, remaining exclusively homogeneous for the vast majority of 20th century history, rather than one of net migration and increased ethnic and racial diversity.
However, from the 1990s, with the rise of the 'Celtic Tiger', the nation shifted to one of a net receiver of immigration at a rapid pace, changing from one of the most 'homogeneous countries in the EU, to a country with a rate of change almost unparalleled in speed and scale'. The Celtic Tiger economic boom saw a large expansion of the labour market, which contributed to the large increase of immigration towards the country, with the additional enlargement of the European Union in 2004 and the further 2007 enlargement contributing to increased levels of immigration.
Additionally, asylum seekers rose dramatically as well: from 364 in 1994 to 11,634 in 2002, before falling off towards the end of the decade.

Net migration rate: 6.8 migrant/1,000 population
Country comparison to the world: 13th

Nationalities

Ireland contains several immigrant communities, especially in Dublin and other cities across the country. The largest immigrant groups, with over 10,000 people, being Poles, British, Indians, Romanians, Lithuanians, Brazilians, Italians, Latvians, Spaniards, French, Croats, Americans, Chinese, Germans and Ukrainians.

Nationality

Population

Nationality of mothers

Of the 54,062 births in 2024, there were 39,024 babies born to mothers of Irish nationality compared to 45,381 in 2021. There were 7% of births to mothers of EU15 to EU27 nationality, 1.6% of mothers were of UK nationality, and 2.6% were of EU14 nationality. Mothers of nationalities other than Ireland, UK and the EU accounted for 16% of total births registered. There were 0.6% of mothers where the nationality was not stated.

Migration data for Ireland, 1987-present

Year	Immigrants	Emigrants	Net Migration
1987	17.2	40.2	-23.0
1988	19.2	61.1	-41.9
1989	26.7	70.6	-43.9
1990	33.3	56.3	-22.9
1991	33.3	35.3	-2.0
1992	40.7	33.4	7.4
1993	34.7	35.1	-0.4
1994	30.1	34.8	-4.7
1995	31.2	33.1	-1.9
1996	39.2	31.2	8.0
1997	44.5	25.3	19.2
1998	46.0	28.6	17.4
1999	48.9	31.5	17.3
2000	52.6	26.6	26.0
2001	59.0	26.2	32.8
2002	66.9	25.6	41.3
2003	60.0	29.3	30.7
2004	58.5	26.5	32.0
2005	84.6	29.4	55.1
2006	107.8	36.0	71.8
2007	151.1	46.3	104.8
2008	113.5	49.2	64.3
2009	73.7	72.0	1.6
2010	41.8	69.2	-27.5
2011	53.3	80.6	-27.4
2012	57.3	83.0	-25.7
2013	62.7	81.3	-18.7
2014	66.5	75.0	-8.5
2015	75.9	70.0	5.9
2016	82.3	66.2	16.2
2017	95.3	56.1	39.2
2018	96.0	51.6	44.4
2019	97.1	53.1	44.0
2020	95.6	50.9	44.7
2021	74.1	52.3	21.8
2022	107.8	56.1	51.7
2023	141.6	64.0	77.7
2024	149.2	69.9	79.3

Country of birth

In 2022, 20% of the usually resident population in Ireland were born elsewhere, an increase of 3% since 2016. This represented 1,017,437 people, an increase of 207,031 from six years previously.

Country

1986

1991

1996

2002

2006

2011

2016

2022

England

Support and opposition

Migrants are supported/represented by the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Irish Refugee Council, Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland, Nasc and the state's Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service. They are managed by the International Protection Accommodation Service under the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth as well being policed by the Garda National Immigration Bureau.
Some minor parties have voiced opposition to immigration in the country and its capability to continue to let refugees in; that "Ireland is full". They include the National Party and the Irish Freedom Party. In May 2023, a Red C/The Business Post poll found that 75% of people thought that Ireland is taking in too many refugees.
The DCEDIY projected a shortfall of 15,000 beds for refugees in December 2022 and admitted that there was mounting pressure to house 65,000 people.
Approximately 7,400 refugee adults and children were projected to be living in 38 "direct provision" centres across 17 counties in Ireland by the end of April 2020. The government of Ireland have said that they project to end direct provision by 2024 and are looking towards alternative forms of accommodation.

Religion

Ireland is a predominantly Christian country. The majority are Catholic; however, the number of people who declare themselves Catholic has been declining in recent years. Irreligion has increased since 2016 with 14% declaring 'No Religion' in 2022, meaning this is the second largest religious affiliation in Ireland. Immigration has also brought other faiths, with Islam at 1.7%, or over 83,000 people. As well as Hinduism, with 33,043 Hindus in the state.

Languages

English is the most commonly used language, with 84% of the population calling it their mother tongue. Irish is the first official language of the state, with 11% calling it their mother tongue. Irish is the main language of the Gaeltacht regions, where 102,973 people lived as of 2022. The main sign language used is Irish Sign Language.

Education

Literacy rate; definition: age 15 and over who can read and write
School life expectancy ; total: 19 years

Employment and income

For May 2025 the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was:
4.0% overall, down from a 4.1% in April 2025., and an annual basis, down from 4.4% in May 2024
3.9% for males, down from 4.0% in April 2025, and down from 4.4% in May 2024.
4.1% for females, down from 4.2% in April 2025, and down from 4.4% in May 2024.
10.9% for persons aged 15–24 years from a revised rate of 11.2% in April 2025.
Up to 3.1% for persons aged 25–74 years from 3.0% in April 2025.
The median household disposable income in 2024 was €58,922, an increase of €3,773 from the previous year. Disposable household income is gross household income less total tax, social insurance contributions, pension contributions and inter-household transfers paid.