Ireland’s population has hit its highest level since before the famine, new data from the Central Statistics Office has shown.
Every county in Ireland saw a growth in their population since 2016, according to information collected during the 2022 Census.
Data from the CSO shows that Ireland’s population has hit its highest point since 1841, four years before the Great Famine.
Read more: CSO figures show Irish people are now almost 40 years old before they can buy their first home
The country now has a population of 5,123,536, as per the Preliminary Results from Census night. According to Cormac Halpin, Senior Statistician in the Census Division, this is an increase of 7.6% since 2016.
The 2022 Census recorded a 7.7% increase in the number of females and a 7.5% increase in the number of males.
Commenting on the findings, Halpin said: “The population increase of 361,671 was made up of a natural increase (births minus deaths) of 171,338 and estimated net inward migration (population change minus natural increase) of 190,333.”
Longford saw the biggest percentage increase at 14.1% and was followed by Meath, Kildare and Fingal in Dublin.
Every county saw a growth in population in Census 2022, unlike in 2016, when Mayo, Sligo and Donegal saw a fall in population.
The Preliminary Results also gave an insight to the country’s housing stock.
On April 3 of this year, when the Census was recorded, the total housing stock was 2,124,590. This is an increase of 6.0% on the 2016 figure.
There were 16,560 fewer vacant dwellings, which is a dwelling that is unoccupied on Census night, is not used as a holiday home and are not usually inhabited by the occupants. There were 66,135 holiday homes recorded in 2022, compared to 62,148 in 2016.
These results are preliminary, given the fact the Census was only completed and collected just over two months ago. Further detail is expected to come between April and December 2023 and will include themed publications on topics such as housing and commuting.
Details of what was said in the Time Capsule section will also become available then.
READ NEXT:
Harry Styles stops Dublin concert twice over crowd safety fears
Manhunt underway in Canada as CCTV released of aftermath of Irishman being killed in hit-and-run
Fugitive Drogheda feud brothers had secret family reunion in France
Irish girl, 7, dies days after swimming pool incident in Spain holiday hotspot Majorca
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter.
