Ireland’s population has surpassed five million since the 19th-century famine.Positive net migration and natural growth, according to the Central Statistics Office, resulted in a population growth of 34,000 in a year. In 1851, Ireland had a population of 6.6 million people, but presently it comprises 6.9 million individuals.Nearly half of the 65,200 people who moved to Ireland in the year to April were Irish nationals who were living abroad. The number of people in the Republic of Ireland in 2020 was 49.9 million. In April 2021, the total number of non-Irish nationals that were residing in Ireland climbed marginally to 645,500, representing 12.9% of the total population.Ireland Growth RateAccording to the latest United Nations figures, Ireland’s current population is 5,009,071. The UN projects a population of 5,020,199 on July 1, 2022.Ireland’s economy continues to expand steadily, albeit at a significantly slower pace than in the preceding decade. Ireland experienced periods of significant growth in the ’70s and 2000s. Before the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s, Ireland comprised 6.5 million people, far more than it is currently.As a consequence, the number of Irish immigrants outnumbers the Irish population. Ireland is expected to grow at a moderate rate during the twenty-first century. When other countries are suffering population losses, Ireland’s population continues to expand. In the European region, Ireland has the greatest birth rate and the lowest mortality rate.With almost five million Canadians of Irish heritage (15% of the population), there is a large Irish emigration in the United States, Canada, England, and Australia. In the United States, around 34.5 million people are of Irish descent. During the last 50 years, Ireland has become a favorite destination for immigrants, from Lithuania and Latvia.In 2006, foreign nationals made up 10% of the population (420,000 individuals), and 24% of births were born to mothers outside of the country. According to 2015 research, about one in every eight people in Ireland was born outside of the country.Ireland’s population is estimated to be 4.94 million people, and it is growing at a pace of 1.13% per year. The entire island of Ireland comprising the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is estimated to be 6.8 million people.Ireland Population ProjectionsWhile the population of Ireland is expected to rise in the coming years, it will do so at a slower rate, and may only be transitory. According to current forecasts, the annual rate of growth will fall from 0.79% in 2020 to 0.43% in 2050. The Ireland population is estimated to grow to 4,887,992 in 2020, 5,219,951 in 2030, 5,530,561 in 2040, and 5,801,399 in 2050 within the same time period.Components Of Population ChangeThree factors that influence Ireland’s population change include births, deaths, and net migration (immigration less emigration). Groups like the Laigin, Cruthin, and Riata have lived in the region for almost 9,000 years. The island has indeed been populated by Normans, Vikings, Welsh, Scots, English, Africans, South Americans, and Eastern Europeans, throughout the previous 1,200 years, the latter two to a lesser extent. Irish culture is heavily influenced by Celtic and Gaelic culture and traditions.Many immigrant communities live in Dublin, including British, Lithuanians, Polish, Nigerians, and Latvians. The majority of Ireland’s diversity stems from European origin, with only 5% of the people claimed as non-white. Migration to the island of Ireland is fairly common, and the country ranks 28th in the world in terms of immigration.Christianity, primarily Roman Catholicism, is the country’s most popular religion, with Roman Catholics accounting for more than 84% of the population. As a result of immigration, a tiny but quickly rising Muslim minority has emerged. In Ireland, approximately 4% of the population is religiously unaffiliated, compared to 14% in the Northern part of Ireland. There appears to be a tiny Jewish community in the area. The total number of immigrants in 2020 is 23,064.In recent years, Ireland’s economy has been one of the strongest in the European region, with constantly rising earnings and near-zero unemployment. Ireland’s major businesses include life sciences, financial services, and high-tech, which are all extremely profitable.Ireland Population By AgeUntil April 2021, Ireland’s population of those aged 65 and up increased by 22,200. In April, there were 742,300 people aged 65 and above in Ireland, up 17.9% from five years earlier.The population of Ireland comprises 1.25 million persons between the age of 45 and 64, 1.39 million people between the age of 25 and 44, and 635,600 people between the age of 15 and 24. In addition, there were around 995,600 children between the age of 0 - 14 in Ireland this year.Ireland Area And Population DensityWith a surface area of 32,595 sq mi (84,421 sq km), Ireland is known as the third-largest island in Europe. In terms of size, Ireland is ranked 122nd in the world.The Republic of Ireland spans 5/6 of the island, whereas Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, occupies the rest. Ireland’s population was 4.784 million people in 2017. This gives it a population density of roughly 147 people per sq mi (57 people per sq km), putting it in 122nd place in the world.Largest Cities In Ireland’Ireland’ is the name given to the Republic of Ireland. The two main political entities in Ireland are Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland (sovereign state).The Irish government is a parliamentary democracy. They have a democratically elected president who serves for a maximum of two terms of seven years each. The Oireachtas, or Irish Parliament, is divided into two houses: the Seanad Éireann and the Dáil.In the early 20th century, the Republic of Ireland declared independence from Great Britain. Irish nationalist MPs founded their own government three years later, in 1919, after a failed revolt in 1916. The Irish Republican Army waged a guerilla struggle after that, until the British government acknowledged the Republic of Ireland’s independence with the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1922.Several major cities reflect the fact that about two-thirds of the Irish population lives in urban regions. Dublin is the capital as well as the largest city in Ireland. Dublin today has a population of 1.43 million people, accounting for 28.5% of the total population. The city comprises an urban population of 1.9 million people.Dublin was established as a section of a Viking settlement and later became the nation’s capital following the Norman conquest. Dublin has a population density of 43,181 persons per sq mi, despite its small size.With a population of 399,216, Cork is Ireland’s second most enormous city. Galway, Swords, and Limerick are three other important cities with populations in the 100,000 range.
Ireland’s population has surpassed five million since the 19th-century famine.
