Preliminary results from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), show that Ireland’s population is the highest it has been in a census since 1841, four years before the Irish Famine.

The results which were released today (Thursday, June 23), show that the Irish population stood at 5.1 million on April 3, this year, marking a 7.6% increase on Census 2016.

Data was collected from more than 5,000 enumeration areas on census night 12 weeks ago. That night, it recorded 2,593,600 females and 2,529,936 males, which is an increase of 7.7% and 7.5% respectively.

The general population increase of 361,671 was made up of a natural increase, (births minus deaths) of 171,338, combined with an estimated net inward migration of 190,333.

Statistics show that the population of every county in the country has increased since 2016, with the largest increase recorded in Longford and Meath at +14.1% and +12.9%. This is in contrast to the previous census when populations in three counties – Mayo, Sligo and Donegal – had fallen.

Housing

The preliminary results also provide information on the country’s housing stock and vacant dwellings in comparison to 2016. Speaking about this data, Cormac Halpin, senior statistician in the census division said:

“The preliminary results show that the total housing stock on April 3, 2022, was 2,124,590, an increase of 6% on the 2016 figure. There were 16,560 fewer vacant dwellings in 2022 compared to 2016.”

This means that there were 166,752 vacant dwellings in the country, excluding holiday homes, of which there were 66,135, an increase of almost 2,000 over the past six years.

The CSO noted that a dwelling is classified as vacant by an enumerator if it has been unoccupied for a period of time in the run up to census night. These properties may be empty if up for sale or rent, under renovation, if an owner has passed away or occupants have moved to a nursing home.