The Population and Migration Estimates publication for 2023 include revised usual residence estimates for the years 2017 to 2022 (i.e. the period between Censuses). This revision process involved a thorough analysis of the final detailed Census results. It should be noted that the people from households that were temporarily absent outside Ireland on Census night are included in the 2022 data for the first time. Inward migrant figures have also been adjusted upwards for 2022 to account for those beneficiaries of the Temporary Protection Directive who would have arrived in April 2022.
See Background Notes for more information.
In the 12 months to the end of April 2023:
The population rose by 97,600 people which was the largest 12-month increase since 2008.
There were 141,600 immigrants which was a 16-year high. This was the second successive 12-month period where over 100,000 people immigrated to Ireland.
Of those immigrants, 29,600 were returning Irish citizens, 26,100 were other EU citizens, and 4,800 were UK citizens.
The remaining 81,100 immigrants were citizens of other countries including almost 42,000 Ukrainians.
Over 64,000 people departed the State in the 12 months to April 2023, compared with 56,100 in the same period of 2022. This was one of the highest figures of recent years.
There was a natural increase of 20,000 people in the State comprised of 55,500 births and 35,500 deaths.
The table below summarises the components of population change for the years ending April 2022 and 2023.
| Table 1: Population and Migration Estimates | ||
| Components of population change | Year ending April 2022 | Year ending April 2023 |
| Immigration | 107,800 | 141,600 |
| Emigration | 56,100 | 64,000 |
| Net migration1 | 51,700 | 77,600 |
| (of which Irish nationals) | (-2,100) | (-900) |
| Births | 59,700 | 55,500 |
| Deaths | 33,600 | 35,500 |
| Natural increase | 26,100 | 20,000 |
| Population change | 77,800 | 97,600 |
| Population | 5,184,000 | 5,281,600 |
| 1 Net migration = Immigration less Emigration | ||
The combination of natural increase and positive net migration led to population growth of 97,600 (+1.9%) in the year to April 2023. This was the largest population gain since 2008 when the population increased by 109,200. The usually resident population now stands at 5,281,600 people (See Figure 1 and Table 2).
The trend in population change closely coincides with the trend in net migration between the years 1988 and 2023 as shown in Figure 2.
There was net migration of 77,600 in the year to April 2023 - up from net migration of 51,700 in 2022 and 21,800 in 2021. This rise in net migration has contributed to a 25% increase in population change, climbing to 97,600 in 2023 from 77,800 in 2022. Since 1951, net migration was only higher in 2007 when it was over 100,000 people.
There were 55,500 births and 35,500 deaths in the year to April 2023, giving a natural increase (births less deaths) in the population of 20,000. This represents a drop of 6,100 (-23%) from the level of natural increase in 2022, and a fall of 3,000 (-13%) on the level of natural increase in 2021 (See Figure 2 and Table 2).
The number of immigrants to the State in the year to April 2023 is estimated to have grown by just over 31% to 141,600 from 107,800 when compared with 2022.
The number of emigrants also rose over the same period to 64,000 from 56,100. These combined flows gave positive net migration, (i.e. more people arrived than left) of 77,600 in the year to April 2023, compared with 51,700 in the previous year, a 50% increase (See Figure 3 and Table 2).
There were 81,100 immigrants who were Rest of World citizens in the year to April 2023, the inflow of Ukrainian citizens contributed significantly to this inflow in 2023.
Inflows of Irish citizens rose to 29,600 in the year to April 2023, from 23,500 the previous year, an increase of 6,100 (+26%).
In 2023, inflows from the EU citizenship groups have increased on the totals from both 2021 and 2022 ("EU14 excl Irl" increased by +14% and "EU15 to EU27" by +29% between 2022 and 2023) (See Figure 4 and Table 3).
Of the 64,000 emigrants, 30,500 were Irish citizens in the year to April 2023. With a total of 29,600 returning Irish citizens, there is close to zero net migration (-900 people).
There were also 14,400 emigrants who were Rest of World nationals in the year to April 2023. Therefore, the number of Rest of World nationals who arrived here to live was just under 66,700 higher than the number who left to live abroad.
In 2023, outflows from the EU nationality groups have increased on the total from 2022, "EU15 to EU27" increased from 4,600 in 2022 to 7,300 in 2023 and the "EU14 excl Irl" rose from 4,700 to 6,900 (See Figure 5, Table 3, and Table 4).
"Estimated Emigration" replaced "Estimated Immigration" on the title of Table 4 on 26 September 2023 at 12:30pm. No data was impacted.
In the year to April 2023, the UK experienced strong migration flows. Estimates have shown that 14,600 people left Ireland to live in the UK, up from 13,400 last year and 18,400 people moved to Ireland from the UK, up from 12,800 in 2022 (See Figure 6 and Table 5).
In the year to April 2023:
More than half (53% or 75,100 people) of the total immigrants and half (50% or 32,300 people) 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 3% 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 2023. Of the emigrants, 9% were aged 0-14 compared with 15% of the immigrants
A lower proportion of the 15-24 years age group were immigrants (17%) compared with emigrants (31%) (See Figure 7 and Table 6).
There were 806,300 people living in Ireland aged 65 and over in April 2023. Those aged 65 and over had an increase in population share between 2017 and 2023, rising from 13.6% to 15.3% of the total, a volume increase of 153,900 people.
There were 1,338,700 people living in Ireland aged 45-65 in April 2023. This age grouping also had a rise in population share between 2017 and 2023, growing from 24.1% to 25.3% of the total, a volume increase of 180,800 people.
The volume of people living in Ireland in the 25-44 years age group and those aged 0-14 years were similar between 2017 and 2023. However, the proportional share has decreased in both age groups, from 29.2% to 27.6% in the 25-44 years group and from 21.0% to 19.2% in those aged 0-14 years (See Figure 8 and Table 7).
The proportion of the population residing in Dublin has risen from 27.6% of the total in 2011 to 28.4% of the total in 2023 and is now at 1,501,500 people surpassing 1.5 million for the first time.
The Mid-East and South-West had the second and third highest population by region with 777,100 and 757,400 people respectively, or a 14.7% and 14.3% share of total population in April 2023. Counties of the Mid-East, South-West, and Dublin NUTS 3 regions (Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Wicklow, Louth, Cork and Kerry) had a 57.5% share of the total population in April 2023, with just above three million people.
In April 2023, the region with the lowest contribution to the total population was the Midland region with 324,600 people (6.1%) followed by the Border (432,100 or 8.1%), South-East (468,600 or 8.9%), West (500,800 or 9.5%) and Mid-West (519,600 or 9.8%) regions (See Figure 9 and Table 8).
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (25 September 2023) released the Population and Migration Estimates, April 2023.
Commenting on the data, Cathal Doherty, Statistician in Population Estimates and Projections, said: "Ireland's population was estimated to be 5.28 million, rising by 97,600 people in the year to April 2023. This was the largest 12-month population increase since 2008 when the population rose by 109,200.
The number of immigrants, or those entering the State in the year to April 2023 was estimated to be 141,600, while the number of emigrants, or those leaving the State, over the same period was estimated at 64,000. These combined flows gave positive net migration (more people having arrived than left), of 77,600 in the year to April 2023, compared with 51,700 in the previous year.
Immigration
The number of immigrants in the 12 months to April 2023 was the highest since the year to April 2007 and consisted of 29,600 returning Irish citizens, 26,100 other EU citizens, 4,800 UK citizens, and 81,100 other citizens including Ukrainians.
Population Trends
There were 806,300 people living in Ireland aged 65 and over in April 2023. Those aged 65 and over showed an increase in population share between 2017 and 2023 (increasing from 13.6% to 15.3% of the total), a volume increase of 153,900 people.
There were 1,338,700 people living in Ireland aged 45-64 in April 2023. This age grouping also had a rise in population share between 2017 and 2023, growing from 24.1% to 25.3% of the total, a volume increase of 180,800 people.
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 2023 and now stands at 1,501,500 people."
Editor's Note
The Annual Population and Migration Estimates up to the end of April 2023 are calculated by using the usually resident 2022 data from the Census of Population as a baseline. Births and Deaths are obtained from the General Register Office (GRO) and migrant flows are estimated using a number of sources. Please note that 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.
This publication also includes revised usual residence estimates for the years 2017 to 2022 (i.e. the period between Censuses). This revision process involved a thorough analysis of the final detailed Census results (See Background Notes for more information).