Preliminary results from the 2022 Census of Population reported a population of 5.12 million persons using the de facto definition of population, i.e. all persons present in the State on Census night. This differs by 23,300 from the population estimates contained in this release which have been compiled using the usual residence concept. It is planned to revise the usual residence estimates for the years 2017 to 2022 (i.e. the period between Censuses) following a thorough analysis of the final detailed Census results when they become available in 2023.
See background notes for more information.
In the 12 months to the end of April 2022:
The population increased by 88,800 persons, the largest 12-month increase since 2008.
There were 120,700 immigrants, a 15-year high.
Of those immigrants; 28,900 were returning Irish nationals, 24,300 were other EU nationals, and 4,500 were UK nationals.
The remaining 63,000 immigrants were other nationals including almost 28,000 Ukrainians in the 12-month period.
More people emigrated than in recent years with 59,600 persons departing the State compared with 54,000 in 2021.
There was a natural increase of 27,700 people in the State comprised of 60,700 births less 33,000 deaths.
The table below summaries the components of population change for the years ending April 2021 and 2022.
| Population and Migration Estimates | ||
| Components of population change | Year ending April 2021 | Year ending April 2022 |
| Immigration | 65,200 | 120,700 |
| Emigration | 54,000 | 59,600 |
| Net migration1 | 11,200 | 61,100 |
| (of which Irish nationals) | (7,300) | (1,300) |
| Births | 55,500 | 60,700 |
| Deaths | 32,700 | 33,000 |
| Natural increase | 22,800 | 27,700 |
| Population change | 34,000 | 88,800 |
| Population | 5,011,500 | 5,100,200 |
| 1 Net migration = Immigration less Emigration | ||
The combination of natural increase and positive net migration gave population growth of 88,800 (+1.8%) in the year to April 2022. This was the largest population gain since 2008 when the population increased by 109,200. The usually resident population now stands at 5,100,200 persons. See Figure 1 and Table 1.
The trend in population change closely coincides with the trend in net migration between the years 1987 and 2022 as shown in Figure 2.
There was net migration of 61,100 in the year to April 2022 up from net migration of 11,200 in 2021 and 28,900 in 2020. This five-fold increase in net migration has contributed to a 161% increase in population change, increasing to 88,800 in 2022 from 34,000 in 2021.
There were 60,700 births and 33,000 deaths in the year to April 2022, giving a natural increase (births less deaths) in the population of 27,700. This is a similar level of natural increase as seen in the 2020 population estimates. See Figure 2 and Table 1.
The number of immigrants to the State in the year to April 2022 is estimated to have increased by just above 85% to 120,700 from 65,200 when compared with 2021.
The number of emigrants also increased over the same period to 59,600 from 54,000. These combined flows gave positive net migration, (i.e. more people arrived than left) of 61,100 in the year to April 2022, compared with 11,200 in the previous year, over a five-fold increase. See Figure 3 and Table 1.
There were 63,000 immigrants who were Rest of World nationals in the year to April 2022, the inflow of Ukrainian nationals significantly impacted this inflow in 2022. There were also 18,500 emigrants who were Rest of World nationals in the year to April 2022. Therefore, the number of Rest of World nationals who arrived here to live was just under 44,500 higher than the number who left to live abroad.
Inflows of Irish nationals declined to 28,900 in the year to April 2022, from 30,200 the previous year, a decrease of 1,300 (-4.3%).
In 2022, inflows from the EU nationality groups have increased on the totals from both 2020 and 2021 ("EU13" increased by +0.9% and "Rest of EU15" by +39.1% between 2020 and 2022). See Figure 4, Table 2, and Table 3.
In the year to April 2022, the UK experienced strong migration flows. Estimates have shown that 14,200 persons left Ireland to live in the UK, down from 18,200 last year and 16,100 persons moved to Ireland from the UK, down from 19,100 in 2021. See Figure 5 and Table 4.
In the year to April 2022:
Just under half (49.6% or 59,900 persons) of the total immigrants and less than half (47.5% or 28,300 persons) of the total emigrants were aged between 25-44 years.
The lowest proportion of migrants were in the 65 years and over age group, with less than 4% of immigrants and fewer than 2% of emigrants in the oldest age group.
There was a higher proportion of immigrants when compared with emigrants in the youngest age group (0-14 years) in the year to April 2022 (10.3% of emigrants are aged 0-14 compared with 15.5% of the immigrants).
A lower proportion of the 15-24 years age group were immigrants (20.6%) compared to emigrants (29.4%). See Figure 6 and Table 5.
In the year to April 2022, 70,300 (58.2%) immigrants had a third level qualification and 30,700 (51.5%) of emigrants had a third level qualification. See Figure 7 and Table 6.
There were 768,900 persons living in Ireland aged 65 and over in April 2022. Those aged 65 and over had an increase in population share between 2016 and 2022, increasing from 13.3% to 15.1% of the total, a volume increase of 139,100 persons.
There were 1,279,000 persons living in Ireland aged 45-65 in April 2022. This age grouping also had an increase in population share between 2016 and 2022, increasing from 23.8% to 25.1% of the total, a volume increase of 151,000 persons.
The volume of people living in Ireland in the 25-44 years age group and those aged 0-14 years were similar between 2016 and 2022. However, the proportional share has decreased in both age groups, from 29.6% to 27.5% in the 25-44 years group and from 21.2% to 19.6% in those aged 0-14 years. See Figure 8 and Table 7.
Year-on-year population growth to the end of April has varied between 0.4% growth (+18,800 persons) from 2011 to 2012 to 1.8% growth (+88,800) from 2021 to 2022 between the years 2011 and 2022. The proportion of the population residing in Dublin has increased from 27.6% of the total in 2011 to 28.4% of the total in 2022 and is now at 1,451,000 persons surpassing 1,400,000 in 2020.
The Mid-East and South-West had the second and third highest population by region with 753,000 and 734,600 people respectively, or a 14.8% and 14.4% share of total population in April 2022. Counties of the Mid-East, South-West, and Dublin NUTS 3 regions (Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Wicklow, Louth, Cork and Kerry) had a 57.6% share of the total population in April 2022, or 2,938,600 persons.
In April 2022, the region with the lowest contribution to the total population was the Midland region with 310,900 persons (6.1%) followed by the Border (420,900 or 8.3%), South-East (451,900 or 8.9%), West (480,300 or 9.4%) and Mid-West (497,800 or 9.8%) regions. See Figure 9 and Table 8.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (24 August 2022) released Population and Migration Estimates, April 2022.
Commenting on the data, Cathal Doherty, Statistician in Population Estimates and Projections, said: "Ireland's population was estimated to be 5.10 million, increasing by 88,800 persons in the year to April 2022. This was the largest 12-month population increase since 2008 when the population increased by 109,200.
The number of immigrants, or those entering the State in the year to April 2022 is estimated to be 120,700, while the number of emigrants, or those leaving the State, over the same period is estimated at 59,600. These combined flows gave positive net migration (more people arrived than left), of 61,100 in the year to April 2022, compared with 11,200 in the previous year.
The number of immigrants was the highest since the year to April 2007 and consisted of 28,900 returning Irish nationals, 24,300 other EU nationals, 4,500 UK nationals, and 63,000 other nationals including Ukrainians.
There were 768,900 persons living in Ireland aged 65 and over in April 2022. Those aged 65 and over had an increase in population share between 2016 and 2022, increasing from 13.3% to 15.1% of the total, a volume increase of 139,100 persons.
Looking at where people reside, the proportion of the population living in Dublin has increased from 27.6% of the total in 2011 to 28.4% of the total in 2022 and is now at 1,451,000 persons."