CSO Said Immigration To Ireland Has Hit A Record High

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) informed that immigration to Ireland has reached a 17-year high record. 149,200 people have reached Ireland in the 12-month period till April.

The breakdown of data showed that 30,000 of these people were returning Irish citizens, 27,000 were other EU people and 5400 were UK people.

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The remaining 86,800 immigrants belonged to other regions of the world.

CSO explained that it was the third time in a row that the number of immigrants to Ireland was seen increasing in a 12-month period. More than 100,000 people migrated to Ireland during this time.

CSO elucidated that the numbers showed a 5 per cent increase when compared with the figures of 2023. The initial data showed immigrants as 141,600 while now the data counted them as 149,200 in the running year.

Also, the data revealed that 10,600 people left Ireland and went to stay in Australia, which was again an increase of 4700 in comparison with the previous year.

Some notable data in CSO report

Other notable data that was disclosed was 15,200 people who left Ireland to go to the UK while 20,500 people came from the UK to live in Ireland. Both the figures were increased from the data of 2023.

The highest immigration figures were revealed since 2015, which showed 69,000 people immigrated from Ireland in the 12-month period till April. The same period of immigration in 2023 showed 64,000 immigrants to Ireland.

Further, CSO found it interesting that more people came to Ireland than left in the current year.

According to a report generated by the Irish government, people come to Ireland as the country is a member of the European Union. It means that the freedom to work anywhere without a visa or work permit remains one of the top priorities of moving to Ireland.

The majority of the immigrants are from states other than the UK and EU, which is why they come to Ireland to study or work, with an expectation to live here permanently.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the number of people moving to Ireland has decreased. However, still several people have applied for International Protection (asylum) in Ireland, the report said.

Additionally, people prefer to live in Ireland due to its low crime rate, stable political position, and strong healthcare and social welfare systems.

People have also stated that moving to Ireland is cheaper than moving to the UK due to the cost of living in the country. High standard of living with a strict work-life balance are some of the factors that people look for while opting to migrate to Ireland.

A natural increase in Ireland’s population was observed with 19,400 people in the region. It comprised 54,200 births and deaths of around 34,800 people.

CSO explained that several people are ageing in Ireland’s population accounting for up to 833,300 people aged above 65 years. There has been a downward trend in Irish births since 2019, taking the children of agegroup between 0-4 years in a decline since 2012.

Dublin also faced an increment in its population. From 27.6 per cent of people living in Dublin in 2011, it has now increased to 28.5 per cent in 2024. The capital’s new population is 1,534,900 with an increment of 33,400 people since April 2023.