People numbers highest since State founded

The population of the Republic is at its highest since the foundation of the State, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office yesterday.

Net immigration and a continuing high birth rate in the year to last April pushed the population to 3.74 million - an increase of 39,800, or 1.1 per cent, since last year. The figure is the highest since the 3.87 million recorded for the 26-county area in an all-Ireland census in 1881.

Total immigration for the year to April was an estimated 47,500, also the highest since the CSO began publishing the annual "Population and Migration Estimates" in 1987. However, 29,000 people emigrated during the same period, leaving a net migration figure of 18,500. The natural increase in the population (births less deaths) was 21,200.

While the overall immigration figure is the highest on record, the net inward statistic is down on 1988, when 44,000 entered the country but only 21,000 left.

In a rising trend, 55 per cent of all immigrants were Irish nationals, compared with 45 per cent in 1996. A further 17 per cent were British and 14 per cent were from other countries in the EU. About 15 per cent came from the rest of the world, with the US accounting for one-third of these.

Britain was the most common destination for emigrants, attracting more than a third, followed by the US, which took more than a quarter of the total. Some 45 per cent of immigrants came here from Britain.

The annual estimates, which are drawn from the quarterly national household survey, the net passenger balance and the country of residence inquiry of passengers travelling through air and sea ports, suggest that immigrants were on average older than emigrants.

More than half of those who left the State were between 15 and 24 years, a group which accounted for less than a third of immigrants. Some 45 per cent of those who entered the State were in the 25-44 age bracket, while about 13 per cent were 14 or under.

Migrants in either direction were split almost evenly between the sexes, females accounting for slightly more of both.

The Central Statistics Office website is: www.cso.ie