Ireland's foreign population up annually by 5%

Ireland's foreign population has grown by more than 5 per cent every year in recent years, giving the State the ninth-highest foreign population growth rate out of 22 countries surveyed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The report published yesterday, Trends in International Migration, found Britain recorded a foreign population growth rate of 1.68 per cent during the same period.

However, Mr Aidan Punch, senior statistician with the Central Statistics Office, said the figures did not mean the State was being "flooded" with migrants.

"The growth rate is higher here but the percentage that non-nationals represent of the total population is the critical thing. That's still very low in Ireland compared to Britain and more multi-cultural societies," he said. "A 5 per cent increase every year on a small figure is very small beer."

The OECD report found Ireland had a foreign population of 91,000 in 1994. In that year, Ireland had the fourth-lowest foreign population of the 22 countries participating in the survey.

By 1999, Ireland's foreign population had grown to 118,000 - an increase of 27,000. In that year, Ireland had the third-lowest foreign population of the 22 countries.

Mr Punch said the Central Statistics Office had estimated that the State's population in 2001 stood at 3.84 million. Of that total, 3.69 million, or 96.1 per cent, were Irish nationals.

Of the 3.9 per cent classified as non-Irish nationals, nearly half were from Britain.

The OECD report found Greece had the highest annual foreign population growth rate at 17.69 per cent, followed by Korea with 17.39 per cent and the Czech Republic with 17.16 per cent.

The foreign populations of Belgium, France, Hungary, the Netherlands and Sweden decreased during the period 1994 to 1999. Foreign population growth rates of less than 1 per cent were recorded by Austria and Germany.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report said a general increase in economic prosperity and the development of the information technology sector were the main factors behind the recent increase in worker migration.

It also found that more women were migrating.

While reuniting with family members was the most common motive for female migration, an increasing number of women were settling in other countries for work or because they were refugees.

The report also found a steady increase in student mobility between countries in recent years. It recommended the introduction of safeguards to limit the risk of "brain drain".

The OECD noted that some recent migration trends could change.

Stricter surveillance of national borders since the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington in the United States could reduce clandestine migration, while the economic slowdown could make it more difficult for foreigners to get work.