The first major census, using a household form, was the so-called Great Census of 1841. Censuses were subsequently taken at ten-year intervals up to 1911. The first census following the formation of the State was undertaken in 1926. This was followed by censuses in 1936 and 1946. Commencing in 1951, censuses have been taken every five years. The census planned for 1976 was cancelled at a late stage as a Government economic measure. However, the need for up-to-date population figures resulted in a census being specially undertaken in 1979 with a restricted number of questions. This was followed by a full census in 1981 and a resumption of the five-year interval for census taking. This five-year periodicity was broken in 2001 when the census planned for that year was postponed until April 2002 due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. The most recent census was taken on the 24th of April 2016.
Leinster | Munster | Connacht | Ulster (part of) | |
1841 | 1973731 | 2396161 | 1418859 | 740048 |
1851 | 1672738 | 1857736 | 1010031 | 571052 |
1861 | 1457635 | 1513558 | 913135 | 517783 |
1871 | 1339451 | 1393485 | 846213 | 474038 |
1881 | 1278989 | 1331115 | 821657 | 438259 |
1891 | 1187760 | 1172402 | 724774 | 383758 |
1901 | 1152829 | 1076188 | 646932 | 345874 |
1911 | 1162044 | 1035495 | 610984 | 331165 |
1926 | 1149092 | 969902 | 552907 | 300091 |
1936 | 1220411 | 942272 | 525468 | 280269 |
1946 | 1281117 | 917306 | 492797 | 263887 |
1951 | 1336576 | 898870 | 471895 | 253252 |
1956 | 1338942 | 877238 | 446221 | 235863 |
1961 | 1332149 | 849203 | 419465 | 217524 |
1966 | 1414415 | 859334 | 401950 | 208303 |
1971 | 1498140 | 882002 | 390902 | 207204 |
1979 | 1743861 | 979819 | 418500 | 226037 |
1981 | 1790521 | 998315 | 424410 | 230159 |
1986 | 1852649 | 1020577 | 431409 | 236008 |
1991 | 1860949 | 1009533 | 423031 | 232206 |
1996 | 1924702 | 1033903 | 433231 | 234251 |
2002 | 2105579 | 1100614 | 464296 | 246714 |
2006 | 2295123 | 1173340 | 504121 | 267264 |
2011 | 2504814 | 1246088 | 542547 | 294803 |
2016 | 2634403 | 1280020 | 550688 | 296754 |
Interactive table: StatBank Link
The population of the area comprising the Republic of Ireland was over 6.5 million as measured by the 1841 Census of Population. The deaths which resulted from the famine of 1845/49 and the large scale emigration which followed in its wake and which continued throughout the second half of the 19th century culminated in a halving of the population by 1901. Further population declines followed between 1901 and 1926, albeit at a lower level.
The population stabilised at around 2.9 million for over a quarter of a century before reaching its low point of 2.8 million as determined by the 1961 Census. Apart from the decline experienced in the late 1980's the direction of population change has since been positive.
With 36.7%, Munster had the largest population share in 1841, followed by Leinster with 30.2%. Leinster's share gradually began to increase and surpassed that of Munster by 1891. Its share continued to increase further and by 1971 it accounted for over half of the population of the State and currently stands at 55.32%. Munster's share of the total population has declined from 36.7% in 1841 to 26.88% in 2016. The decline in the share of Connacht and Ulster (part of) has been even more acute, the 2016 levels being 11.56% and 6.23% respectively according to the 2016 Census results.
2.2 Average annual births, deaths, natural increase and estimated net migration for each intercensal period | |||||
Thousands | |||||
Period | Births | Deaths | Natural increase | Change in population | Estimated net migration |
1926-1936 | 58 | 42 | 16 | 0 | -17 |
1936-1946 | 60 | 43 | 17 | -1 | -19 |
1946-1951 | 66 | 40 | 26 | 1 | -24 |
1951-1956 | 63 | 36 | 27 | -12 | -39 |
1956-1961 | 61 | 34 | 26 | -16 | -42 |
1961-1966 | 63 | 33 | 29 | 13 | -16 |
1966-1971 | 63 | 33 | 30 | 19 | -11 |
1971-1979 | 69 | 33 | 35 | 49 | 14 |
1979-1981 | 73 | 33 | 40 | 38 | -3 |
1981-1986 | 67 | 33 | 34 | 19 | -14 |
1986-1991 | 56 | 32 | 24 | -3 | -27 |
1991-1996 | 50 | 31 | 18 | 20 | 2 |
1996-2002 | 54 | 31 | 23 | 49 | 26 |
2002-2006 | 61 | 28 | 33 | 81 | 48 |
2006-2011 | 73 | 28 | 45 | 70 | 25 |
2011-2016 | 69 | 30 | 39 | 35 | -4 |
Source: CSO |
The census figures relate to the number of persons present in the State on Census Night. The change in population between successive censuses reflects the effect of births and deaths and the movement of persons into and out of the State during the relevant period. As the number of births and deaths is known from the vital statistics registration system, it is possible to determine net migration (the difference between inward and outward migration) as a residual figure. Because of differing lengths, it is best to express the figure for intercensal periods as annual averages.
In the period from 1926 to 1951, gains due to natural increase were counterbalanced by losses due to net emigration, resulting in little change to the overall population totals. The heavy losses due to high net emigration during the 1950's resulted in an average annual fall in population of around 14,000 during that decade and culminated in the population low point of 2.8 million in 1961. The population has increased in every intercensal year since then, apart from 1986-1991 when a fairly modest decline was experienced. Population growth peaked at 81,000 per annum during the 2002-2006 period. The most recent intercensal period (2011-2016) shows the natural increase at 39,000 persons per annum, with 69,000 births and 30,000 deaths.
Period | Natural increase | Change in population | Estimated net migration |
---|---|---|---|
1926-1936 | 16 | 0 | -17 |
1936-1946 | 17 | -1 | -19 |
1946-1951 | 26 | 1 | -24 |
1951-1956 | 27 | -12 | -39 |
1956-1961 | 26 | -16 | -42 |
1961-1966 | 29 | 13 | -16 |
1966-1971 | 30 | 19 | -11 |
1971-1979 | 35 | 49 | 14 |
1979-1981 | 40 | 38 | -3 |
1981-1986 | 34 | 19 | -14 |
1986-1991 | 24 | -3 | -27 |
1991-1996 | 18 | 20 | 2 |
1996-2002 | 23 | 49 | 26 |
2002-2006 | 33 | 81 | 48 |
2006-2011 | 45 | 70 | 25 |
2011-2016 | 39 | 35 | -4 |
The changing structure of the population over time can be seen by clicking on a census year below:
Getting older
The population of Ireland has been getting steadily older since the 1980's. There are an increasing proportion of people in the older age groups, as illustrated in Figure 2.3 which presents the population in each age group from 1961 up to 2016.
In Census 2016, 37.2 per cent of the population were 45 years or older compared to 34.4 per cent in 2011 and 27.6 per cent in 1986. The proportion of children and young adults aged less than 25 years old was 33.2 per cent in 2016 and this has been steadily declining since the late 1970's when 47.9 per cent of the population were in this age cohort. Persons aged 25 - 44 years old made up 29.5 per cent of the population in 2016 down from 31.6 per cent in 2011.
Interactive Table: StatBank Link
In April 2016, there were 535,475 non-Irish nationals living in Ireland, a 1.6 per cent decrease on the 2011 figure of 544,357. The proportion of the population who were non-Irish nationals has also fallen from 12.2 per cent in 2011 to 11.6 per cent in 2016. This fall in non-Irish nationals can in part be explained by the rise in the number of those with dual Irish nationality, who are classified as Irish in the census.
Map 2.4 shows the geographic spread of non-Irish nationals in Ireland and table 2.4 gives a breakdown of the population Usually Resident and Present in the State Born Abroad by Nationality.
According to the 2016 Census, 83 per cent of persons usually resident in the State were born here. The next most common place of birth was England and Wales where 203,173 persons living in Ireland were born. Of these nearly 60 per cent are Irish nationals. There were also 57,389 persons born in Northern Ireland of which 93 per cent were Irish nationals and over 6 per cent were UK nationals. As well as Northern Ireland and England and Wales, the proportion of Irish nationals born abroad was high in the USA (63.5%), Africa (53.4%) and Asia (45.2%). In comparison of the 115,161 persons born in Poland and living in Ireland just 3 per cent were Irish.
Interactive Table: StatBank Link
Born elsewhere | Born in Ireland | |
Irish-UK | 13258 | 2170 |
Irish-Filipino | 2955 | 544 |
Irish-Indian | 1007 | 187 |
Irish-South African | 1589 | 327 |
Irish-Pakistani | 2043 | 726 |
Irish-Brazilian | 907 | 363 |
Irish-Romanian | 2191 | 966 |
Irish-Nigerian | 4708 | 2287 |
Irish-American | 11194 | 6358 |
Irish-Canadian | 1674 | 1310 |
Irish-Australian | 2453 | 3080 |
Irish-Latvian | 475 | 661 |
Irish-German | 452 | 971 |
Irish-Italian | 403 | 923 |
Irish-French | 689 | 1595 |
Irish-Polish | 2743 | 6530 |
Irish-Spanish | 289 | 762 |
Irish-Lithuanian | 369 | 998 |
Place of birth of dual Irish nationals
The number of persons with a dual Irish nationality almost doubled to 104,784 in Census 2016 from 55,905 in 2011. Persons may identify as having a dual nationality based on what citizenship they hold, where they were born, where they live or where their parents are from. In the case of dual Irish nationals, 66,440 persons or 63.4 per cent were born abroad. However this ratio varied depending on which other nationality they identified as.
Figure 2.4 shows dual Irish nationalities with 1,000 or more persons identified. Of these, Irish-UK nationals were most likely to be born abroad at nearly 86 per cent. Over 80 per cent of Irish-Filipino, Irish-Indian and Irish-South African nationals were born abroad. Irish-Canadians and Irish-Australians were most evenly split between persons born in Ireland and born abroad.
Persons from EU countries other than the UK and Romania who identify as dual Irish were most likely born in Ireland.
Interactive Table: Statbank Link
Number of families | Average number of children | |
1996 | 806835 | 1.82 |
2002 | 924464 | 1.59 |
2006 | 1053180 | 1.41 |
2011 | 1179210 | 1.38 |
2016 | 1218370 | 1.38 |
There were 1,218,370 families in the State on Census Night, an increase of 3.3 per cent since 2011, and a rise of 51 per cent since 1996.
For census purposes, a family is defined as a couple with or without children, or a one parent family with one or more children.
Figure 2.5 illustrates how the number of families has grown over the period 1996 to 2016, while the average number of children per family fell markedly between 1996 and 2006, before levelling off in 2011 and 2016. The average number of children per family remained at 1.38 in 2011 and 2016.
Interactive Table: Statbank link
Average number persons in private households | |
1991 | 3.34 |
1996 | 3.14 |
2002 | 2.94 |
2006 | 2.81 |
2011 | 2.73 |
2016 | 2.75 |
Average household size increased between 2011 and 2016, from 2.73 to 2.75 persons, reversing a long term trend of declining household size.
Average size varies by household type. The number of households comprised of cohabiting couples with children increased by 14,068 or 25.6 per cent, while the number of persons living in those households increased by 59,196 or 28.7 per cent, resulting in the average size increasing from 3.76 to 3.85. Households comprised of unrelated persons only increased by 10.8 per cent, while the number of persons living in such households increased by 15.3 per cent, resulting in the average household size increasing from 2.66 persons in 2011 to 2.77 in 2016.
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