Updated / Monday, 24 Aug 2026 13:04
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New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the population of Ireland was estimated to stand at 5.526 million in the 12 months to April 2026, with more people aged 65 and over and fewer children under the age of 14 in the country.
The increase to 5.526m in the 26 counties marked a rise of 66,900 people.
The population of Northern Ireland was 1.93m in 2024, meaning there are now around 7.5m people on the island of Ireland.
The CSO said an estimated 110,600 immigrants came to the country in the 12 months to April, a 12% decrease from the same time in 2025. This marked the fifth successive year where over 100,000 people immigrated to Ireland.
Today’s figures also show a fall in emigration numbers for the second year in a row with an estimated 62,500 people departing the State. This marked a fall of 5% or 3,100 people when compared with the same time last year.
The CSO said these combined flows resulted in an overall positive net migration (more people having arrived than left), of 48,100 people in the 12 months to April, compared with 59,700 in the previous corresponding period – a fall of 19%.
Today’s CSO figures show a total of 891,100 people living in Ireland were aged 65 and over in April.
Over 65s showed an increase in population share between 2020 and 2026, increasing from 14.4% to 16.1% of the total – an increase of 165,000 people.
Meanwhile, 992,400 people aged under 14 were living in Ireland in April 2026. The CSO noted that this was the first time this age bracket fell under 1 million people since 2014.
This age group had a fall in population share between 2020 and 2026, reducing from 20% to 18% of the total population, a decrease of 21,300.
Today’s figures show that the proportion of the population living in Dublin rose from 28.3% of the total in 2020 to 28.9% of the total in 2026 and stood at 1,597,700 people in April 2026.
