Immigration to Ireland hits 17-year high as emigration also rises

Some 149,200 people immigrated to the Republic of Ireland in the 12 months leading up to April 2024, the highest figure in 17 years, according to new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

It was the third successive 12-month period where more than 100,000 people immigrated to the State, while the number of those who emigrated was the highest since 2015.

In response, Taoiseach Simon Harris has said the Government needs to do more to prepare the country for population growth through forward planning and preparation.

Of the immigrant numbers, 30,000 were returning Irish citizens, 27,000 were EU citizens, and 5,400 were UK citizens, while the remaining 86,800 immigrants were citizens of other countries including Ukraine.

The number of returning Irish citizens saw minimal change, with an increase of just 400 from the 29,600 who returned the year prior.

The number of immigrants in the 12 months to April 2024 was the highest since the year to April 2007.

The population of the Republic is now estimated to be 5.38 million, an increase of 98,700 on the figure recorded in 2023.

This was the largest 12-month population increase in 16 years, since 2008, when the population rose by 109,200.

Meanwhile, more than 69,000 people emigrated in the same period, an increase of 5,000 when compared to the same period in 2023 and the highest emigration figure since 2015, according to the CSO.

Of those, 34,700 were Irish citizens, 10,600 were EU citizens, 3,000 were UK citizens, and 21,500 were citizens of other countries including Ukraine.

There was a “strong outward flow” to Australia in particular, with an estimated 10,600 people moving there from the Republic, up from 4,700 the year prior, representing an increase of 126 per cent. It represents the highest level of emigration to Australia since 2013, the CSO said.

Meanwhile, 6,400 people moved to the Republic from Australia, a decrease of 17 per cent from the 7,700 who did so in 2023.

Some 15,200 people left the Republic to live in the UK, up from 14,600 in 2023, while 20,500 people moved to the Republic from the UK, up from 18,400 in 2023.

Those aged between 25 and 44 accounted for 48 per cent of all emigrants.

The number of emigrants from countries outside of the EU has risen by 49 per cent when compared to the 14,400 in 2023, though a significant number were Ukrainian, according to the CSO.

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Overall, there was a positive net migration of 79,300 in the 12-month period, compared with 77,600 in the previous year.

There was a natural increase of 19,400 people in the State, which comprised of 54,200 births and 34,800 deaths.

In April 2024, 833,300 people aged 65 and over were living in the Republic, , a volume increase of 156,800 people.

More than one million people were aged between 0 and 14, a volume decrease of 4,100.

A downward trend in births since 2010 has driven declines in those aged 0 to 4 since 2012, according to the CSO.

The proportion of the population living in Dublin has risen from 28.1 per cent of the total in 2018 to 28.5 per cent of the total in 2024 and now stands at 1,534,900 people.

Mr Harris said Government needs to do more to prepare the country for an increase in population.

“There’s no doubt governments, the Government that I lead, will now need to do a better job in terms of forward planning, preparing for population growth, wondering what that means for public services, what that means for investment, what that means for staffing levels,” he said.

Speaking to reporters at the Irish embassy in Paris, following a bilateral meeting with the French president Emmanuel Macron, the Taoiseach added: “Inward migration is a good thing. We should be very clear about that. What Ireland needs to do is make sure it has the systems in place to properly process people, to provide people who are coming seeking international protection with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ more quickly.

“If it’s a ‘yes’, welcome them, integrate them, help them work in our economy, where we desperately need people to work in some sectors. If it’s a ‘no’, make sure they leave our jurisdiction much more quickly.

“I’m proud of some of the progress we’ve made in terms of processing times for international protection, but I also acknowledge there’s much more that needs to be done in that area.”