In the 12 months to the end of April 2026:
The population of Ireland rose by 66,900 people and stood at 5,525,600 people.
There were an estimated 110,600 immigrants. This was a 12% decrease from the corresponding period ending in April 2025 and was the fifth successive 12-month period where over 100,000 people immigrated to Ireland.
There was a fall in emigration numbers for the second year in a row with an estimated 62,500 people departing the State. This was a decrease of 5% or 3,100 people when compared with the same period up to April 2025.
Of those emigrants, 53% (32,900 people) were aged between 25 and 44 years, while 32% (19,900 people) were aged between 15 and 24 years.
There was positive overall net migration (more people having arrived than left) of 48,100, a decline of 11,600 people or 19% from 59,700 in the corresponding period ending in April 2025.
The number of people aged between 0 and 14 years fell below 1 million to 992,400, the first time this age bracket fell under 1 million people since 2014, while those aged 65 and over rose to 891,100 people.
Since 2010, the number of births continued to decline, with 55,000 people under the age of one year living in Ireland, a decrease of 19,900 people or 27% in 16 years.
There was a natural increase (births minus deaths) of nearly 19,000 people in the State.
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. 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. (See Background Notes for more information)
The table below summarises the components of population change for the 12-month periods ending April 2025 and 2026.
| Table 1.1 Population and Migration Estimates | ||
| Components of population change | 12-month period ending in April 2025 | 12-month period ending in April 2026 |
| Immigration | 125,300 | 110,600 |
| Emigration | 65,600 | 62,500 |
| Net migration1 | 59,700 | 48,100 |
| (of which Irish citizens) | (-3,500) | (-5,200) |
| Births | 54,400 | 54,300 |
| Deaths | 35,800 | 35,400 |
| Natural increase | 18,600 | 18,800 2 |
| Population change | 78,300 | 66,900 |
| Population | 5,458,600 | 5,525,600 |
| 1 Net migration = Immigration less Emigration. | ||
| 2 Additivity lost due to rounding error. | ||
The usually resident population now stands at 5,525,600 people. The combination of natural increase and overall positive net migration led to a population increase of 66,900 (+1.2%) in the 12 months to April 2026. This is a decrease of 14.6% from the previous period ending in April 2025 where the population increased by 78,300. (See Figure 1 and Table 1.2)
The trend in population change closely coincides with the trend in net migration between the years 1988 and 2026 as shown in Figure 2.
There was overall positive net migration (i.e. more people arrived than left) of 48,100 in the 12 months to April 2026 – down from net migration of 59,700 in 2025 and 79,300 in 2024. This decrease in net migration is attributed to a larger fall in immigration (down 14,700 from 2025) than emigration (down 3,100 from 2025).
There were 54,300 births and 35,400 deaths in the 12 months to April 2026, giving a natural increase (births less deaths) in the population of 18,800 (these numbers involve rounding, see Background Notes). This represents a rise of 200 (+1%) from the level of natural increase in 2025.
The 1.2% growth in the population seen in April 2026 when compared to the April 2025 figure can be broken down between a net inward migration accounting for 72% of this growth and a natural increase accounting for 28%. (See Figure 2 and Table 1.2)
The number of immigrants to the State in the 12 months to April 2026 is estimated to have fallen by 12% to 110,600 from 125,300 when compared with 2025.
The number of emigrants also fell over the same period from 65,600 to 62,500. These combined flows gave positive overall net migration (i.e. more people arrived than left) of 48,100 in the 12 months to April 2026. (See Figure 3 and Table 1.2).
There were 55,500 immigrants who were Rest of World citizens in the 12 months to April 2026. This is a 13% decrease from the previous 12 months where we saw 63,600 Rest of World citizens immigrating.
The number of returning Irish citizens fell slightly from 31,500 in April 2025 to 30,200 in the 12 months to April 2026, a decrease of 1,300 (-4%). Similarly, the number of immigrants from other EU countries (20,700 people) and the UK (4,300 people) also decreased between 2025 and 2026, falling by 18% and 12%, respectively. (See Figure 4 and Table 1.3).
Of the 62,500 emigrants, 35,400 were Irish citizens in the 12 months to April 2026. With a total of 30,200 returning Irish citizens, there is a net outward migration of Irish citizens (-5,200 people) in this period.
There were also 16,400 emigrants who were Rest of World citizens in the 12 months to April 2026. This is a decrease of 5.7% when compared to the 17,400 emigrants who were Rest of World citizens in the 12 months to April 2025.
In 2026, outflows from the "EU-14" citizenship group accounted for 5,900 emigrants, this has decreased by 1,200 from the 2025 figure. Similarly, emigration of both citizens from "EU15 to EU27" and “UK” decreased slightly from their 2025 figures, by 600 and 700 people, respectively. (See Figure 5 and Table 1.3).
In the 12-months to April 2026, 11,800 people left Ireland to go to Australia, a decrease of 1,700 (-13%) from 2025. Similarly, the number of people coming to Ireland from Australia decreased from 10,100 in 2025 to 8,300 people, a decrease of 1,800 (-18%) in 2026.
Migration to and from Rest of World countries (i.e. countries not including Ireland, UK, EU countries, Australia, USA or Canada) also decreased in the 12 months to April 2026. Individuals coming to Ireland from Rest of World countries fell 23% from 68,000 to 52,200 people between 2025 and 2026. Those people leaving Ireland for Rest of World countries, also decreased, falling 16% from 11,100 people to 9,300 people in the last corresponding period. (See Figure 6 and Table 1.4)
In the 12 months to April 2026, more than half of the total immigrants (53% or 58,300 people) and total emigrants (53% or 32,900 people) were aged between 25 - 44 years.
There were a higher proportion of immigrants in the youngest age group (0 - 14 years) in the 12 months to April 2026, when compared with emigrants for the same period. Of the emigrants, 6% were aged 0 - 14 (3,700 people), while 19% of immigrants (21,000 people) were in this age group.
The lowest proportion of migrants were in the 65 years and over age group, with 3% of immigrants (3,100 people) and 2% of emigrants (1,100 people) in the oldest age group.
In contrast, a lower proportion of the 15 - 24 year age group were immigrants (15% or 16,500 people) when compared with emigrants (32% or 19,900 people) in the 12 months to April 2026 (See Figure 7 and Table 1.5).
There were 891,100 people aged 65 and over living in Ireland in April 2026. This was an increase of 30,000 people (+3.5%) when compared with April 2025. Those aged 65 and over also saw an increase in population share since April 2020, rising from 14.4% of the total population to 16.1% in 2026, an increase of 165,000 people.
In April 2026, there were 1,443,000 people aged between 45 and 64 years living in Ireland. This age group also saw a rise in population share between 2020 and 2026, growing from 24.7% to 26.1% of the total population, an increase of 202,800.
The number of people in the 15-24 year age group also increased between 2020 and 2026, rising by 72,100 people. This marginally increased their proportional share of the population from 12.7% in 2020 to 12.8% in 2026. Similarly, the number of people aged 25-44 years grew since 2020, increasing by 77,200 people. However, the proportional share of this age group has reduced between 2020 and 2026, decreasing from 28.1% to 27.0%. In fact, the number of 25-44 year-olds living in Ireland decreased by 4,400 (-0.3%) in the last year, representing the first year-on-year decrease observed since 2021. (See Figure 8 and Table 1.6).
Between 2020 and 2026, the population of those aged 0-14 years living in Ireland reduced by 21,300 people (-2.1%). In fact, this is the first time since 2014 that the number of individuals aged 0-14 dropped below 1 million, standing at 992,400 people at the end of April 2026. This corresponds to a decrease of 7,700 (-0.8%) since 2025 and a decrease of 23,100 (-2.3%) since its highest in 2019 (1,015,500 people). (See Figure 9 and Table 1.6).
There has been a downward trend in births since 2010, from over 75,000 people being born in 2010 to just under 55,000 in 2026. This has driven declines in those aged 0-4 years since 2012. This has also led to a decline in individuals aged 5-9 years which has been observed from 2017 onwards.
In April 2026, there were 55,000 people under the age of 1 year in the country. This is a decrease of 19,900 (-27%) from the 2010 figure of 74,900 people. There were also 290,000 people aged between 0 and 4 years living in Ireland in April 2026, corresponding to a decrease of 68,200 people (-19%) from the 2012 figure of 358,200. Additionally, there were 325,300 people aged between 5 and 9 years and a further 377,100 people aged 10-14 years in the country in April 2026. The number of individuals aged 5-9 years saw a decrease of 35,400 (-10%) when compared with the 2017 figure of 360,700 people. The number of 10-14 year-olds has also decreased by 4,700 people (-1.2%) since the highest figure observed in 2024 (381,800 people). (See Figure 10 and Table 1.6).
The population of Dublin has risen from 27.6% of the country’s total in 2011 to 28.9% in 2026, with 1,597,700 people currently residing there. This corresponds to an increase of 29,700 people since April 2025.
The South-West and Mid-East had the second and third highest population by region in April 2026, with 792,900 and 788,400 people, respectively. This corresponded to a 14.3% share of the total population for the South-West region and a 14.3% share for the Mid-East. Counties of the Mid-East, South-West and Dublin NUTS3 regions (Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Wicklow, Louth, Cork and Kerry) together made up 57.5% of the total population in April 2026, with 3,179,000 people.
The region with the highest population growth year-on-year was Dublin, which had an increase of 29,700 people from April 2025 to April 2026. This was followed by the West region, with a rise of 11,500 people. This represents an increase of 2.2% in the West’s population in the 12-months to April 2026. The only region not to see an increase in population since April 2025 was the South-East. In April 2026, the South-East had a population of 485,400 people, down 1,000 (or 0.2%) people from April of the previous year.
Again in 2026, the region with the lowest contribution to the total population was the Midland region, with 339,400 people (6.1% of the total population). This was followed by the Border (447,600 or 8.1%), South-East (485,400 or 8.8%), West (531,100 or 9.6%) and Mid-West (543,000 or 9.8%) regions (See Figure 11 and Table 1.7).
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (24 August 2026) published the Population and Migration Estimates, April 2026.
Commenting on the data, Conor J Crowley, Statistician in Population Estimates and Projections, said: "Ireland's population was estimated to be 5.526 million, rising by 66,900 people in the 12-month period to April 2026.
The number of immigrants, or those entering the State, in the 12 months to April 2026 was estimated to be 110,600, while the number of emigrants, or those leaving the State, over the same period was estimated at 62,500 people. These combined flows gave overall positive net migration (more people having arrived than left), of 48,100 people in the 12 months to April 2026, compared with 59,700 in the previous corresponding period.
Immigration
The number of immigrants in the 12 months to April 2026 fell by 14,700 when compared with the previous 12-month period and comprised of 30,200 returning Irish citizens, 20,700 other EU citizens, 4,300 UK citizens, and over 55,000 other citizens.
Emigration
The number of emigrants in the 12 months to April 2026 decreased slightly when compared with the corresponding period ending in April 2025 and comprised of 35,400 Irish citizens, 8,700 other EU citizens, 2,000 UK citizens, and 16,400 other citizens.
Population Trends
There were just less than a million (992,400) people living in Ireland aged 0 - 14 in April 2026. This was the first time this age bracket fell under 1 million people since 2014. This age group had a fall in population share between 2020 and 2026, reducing from 20% to 18% of the total population, a decrease of 21,300.
There were 891,100 people living in Ireland aged 65 and over in April 2026. Those aged 65 and over showed an increase in population share between 2020 and 2026, increasing from 14.4% to 16.1% of the total, which was a volume increase of 165,000 people.
Looking at where people reside, the proportion of the population living in Dublin rose from 28.3% of the total in 2020 to 28.9% of the total in 2026 and stood at 1,597,700 people in April 2026."