Irish Population Analysis

Irish Population Analysis

The population of the island of Ireland in 2012 was approximately 6.3 million comprising 4.58 million in the Republic of Ireland with another 1.8 million in Northern Ireland. Although this is a significant growth over recent years, it is lower than historical figures.

In 1841, the population of the 26 counties which would later form the Republic of Ireland was over 6.5 million people. The Great Famine and the emigration it caused had a dramatic effect, so that by 1871 the 26-county population had dropped by over a third to four million, and by 1926 had reduced further to three million. The population held firm around three million until the early 1970s when the population began to rise again. Future predictions are for the population to continue to rise at 1.4% per year until 2021 when the population is predicted to be just over five million. The Republic of Ireland is one of the few remaining developed economies to have population growth of this scale.

Below are some statistics to illustrate the rise, fall and rise again of the Irish population since 1841. The statistics also illustrate a massive population shift from the West to the East of the country and increasing urbanisation. Counties such as Mayo, Roscommon, Donegal and Leitrim have become depopulated while counties surrounding Dublin including Wicklow, Kildare, Louth and Meath have seen rapid population growth in recent years.