Irish_population_analysis

Historical population of Ireland

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The population of Ireland in 2021 was approximately seven million with 1,903,100 in Northern Ireland^[1] and 5,123,536 in the Republic of Ireland.^[2] In the 2022 census the population of the Republic of Ireland eclipsed five million for the first time since the 1851 census.^[3] The population of Ireland in 2016 was approximately 6.6 million (4.75 million^[4] in the Republic of Ireland and 1.85 million^[5] in Northern Ireland). Although these figures demonstrate significant growth over recent years, the population of Ireland remains below the record high of 8,175,124 in the 1841 census.^[6]

Between 1700 and 1840, Ireland experienced rapid population growth, rising from less than three million in 1700 to over eight million by the 1841 census.^[7] In 1851, as the Great Famine was ending, the population of Ireland had dropped to 6.5 million people. The Famine and the resulting Irish diaspora had a dramatic effect on population; by 1891, Ireland's population had slipped under five million and by 1931, it had dropped to just over four million. It stayed around this level until the 1960s, when the population began to rise again.

Below are some statistics to illustrate the rise, fall and rise again of the population since 1841. The statistics also illustrate a massive population shift from the west to the east of the country and increasing urbanisation. The areas around Dublin and Belfast have seen population growth, while Connacht has become depopulated.

Historical populations per province

(Measured in 1000s, rounded)

Historical populations per county

(Measured in 1000s)

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[1] [1]
"Census Results NI Released May 2022" (PDF). NISRA.

[2] [2]
"Census Results RoI Released June 2022". CSO.

[Over_5_million-3] [3]
"Ireland's population is now the biggest since before the Famine, census reveals". Irish Central. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.

[4] [4]
Census of Ireland 2016 (Irish Central Statistics Office 2016)

[5] [5]
Northern Ireland mid year population statistics 2016)

[Highest_since_1841-6] [6]
"Press Statement Census of Population 2022 – Preliminary Results". Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 18 July 2022.

[7] [7]
Ó Grada Cormac. The population of Ireland 1700–1900 : a survey. In: Annales de démographie historique, 1979. p. 283.

[8] [8]
https://www.persee.fr/doc/adh_0066-2062_1979_num_1979_1_1425 Population figures from 1600 to 1926 from here unless otherwise noted.
Figures from 1931 to the present include data from NISRA.

[9] [9]
National Archives online

[10] [10]
LibraryIreland.com

[11] [11]
LibraryIreland.com

[12] [12]
LibraryIreland.com

[13] [13]
1851 in Ireland

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

Year	Population^[8]	%Change	Av % per year
2022	7.1m	6.6	1.1
2016	6.66m	4.2	0.84
2011	6.39m	6.86	1.37
2006	5.98m	6.6	1.32
2001	5.6m	6.1	1.21
1996	5.29m	3.5	0.7
1991	5.1m
1986	5.1m	2.2	0.44
1981	5m	10.86	1.09
1971	4.51m	3.44	0.69
1966	4.36m	2.59	0.52
1961	4.25m	0.93	0.19
1956	4.29m	0.19	0.1
1951	4.33m	0.93	1.86
1946	4.29m	1.9	0.1
1931	4.21m	0.47	0.09
1926	4.23m	3.42	0.23
1911^[9]	4.38m	1.79	0.18
1901	4.46m	5.11	0.51
1891^[10]	4.7m	9.27	0.93
1881	5.18m	4.07	0.4
1871^[11]	5.4m	6.9	0.69
1861	5.8m	11.45	1.15
1851	6.55m	19.93	1.99
1841	8.18m	2.89	0.41
1834	7.95m	2.32	0.77
1831	7.77m	14.26	1.43
1821	6.8m	22.08	1.47
1806^[12]	5.57m	17.26	1.15
1791	4.75m	17.28	1.73
1781	4.05m	26.56	0.98
1754	3.2m	10.3	0.29
1718	2.9m	107	0.907
1600	1.4m

Rank	County	Population	Density (/ km²)	Province	Change since previous census
1	Dublin	1,347,359	1,459.2	Leinster	5.7%
2	Antrim	618,108	202.9	Ulster	1.8%
3	Cork	542,868	72.3	Munster	4.5%
4	Down	531,665	215.6	Ulster	8.7%
-	Fingal	296,020	651.6	Leinster	8.1%
-	South Dublin	278,767	1,251.5	Leinster	5.1%
5	Galway	258,058	42.0	Connacht	3.2%
6	Londonderry	247,132	119.1	Ulster	4.8%
7	Kildare	222,504	131.0	Leinster	5.6%
-	Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown	218,018	1,706.7	Leinster	5.3%
8	Meath	195,044	83.2	Leinster	5.9%
9	Limerick	194,899	70.8	Munster	1.8%
10	Tyrone	179,000	54.5	Ulster	8.4%
11	Armagh	174,792	131.8	Ulster	7.3%
12	Tipperary	159,553	37.2	Munster	1.1%
13	Donegal	159,192	32.6	Ulster	-1.5%
14	Wexford	149,722	63.2	Leinster	2.9%
15	Kerry	147,707	30.7	Munster	1.4%
16	Wicklow	142,425	70.2	Leinster	4.2%
17	Mayo	130,507	23.3	Connacht	-0.2%
18	Louth	128,884	155.4	Leinster	4.5%
19	Clare	118,817	34.4	Munster	1.2%
20	Waterford	116,176	62.7	Munster	2.3%
21	Kilkenny	99,232	47.8	Leinster	3.9%
22	Westmeath	88,770	48.2	Leinster	2.9%
23	Laois	84,697	49.3	Leinster	5.2%
24	Offaly	77,961	38.9	Leinster	1.7%
25	Cavan	76,176	39.3	Ulster	4.0%
26	Sligo	65,535	35.5	Connacht	-0.1%
27	Roscommon	64,544	25.3	Connacht	0.6%
28	Monaghan	61,386	47.3	Ulster	1.3%
29	Fermanagh	61,170	36.1	Ulster	6.3%
30	Carlow	56,932	63.4	Leinster	4.1%
31	Longford	40,873	37.4	Leinster	4.6%
32	Leitrim	32,044	20.1	Connacht	0.5%
	Average	205,429
	Northern Ireland total	1,811,867	133
	Republic of Ireland total	4,761,865	70
Total		6,573,732	77.8

Year	2022	2016	2011	2006	2002	1996	1991	1986	1981	1979	1971	1966	1961	1956	1951	1946	1936	1926	1911	1901	1891	1881	1871	1861	1851	1841
Population	2,876	2,631	2,501	2,292	2,103	1,920	1,858	1,851	1,789	1,741	1,495	1,413	1,330	1,336	1,336	1,278	1,217	1,147	1,160	1,152	1,186	1,276	1,336	1,454	1,668	1,969
Rank	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2
%Change	9	5.2	9	9	9.53	3.34	0.38	3.47	2.76	16.45	5.8	6.24	-(0.45)	0	4.54	5.01	6.10	-(1.12)	0.69	-(2.87)	-(7.05)	-(4.49)	-(8.12)	-(12.83)	-(15.29)

Year	2022	2016	2011	2006	2002	1996	1991	1986	1981	1979	1971	1966	1961	1956	1951	1946	1936	1926	1911	1901	1891	1881	1871	1861	1851	1841
Population	1,373	1,280	1,244	1,173	1,098	1,032	1,004	1,018	996	978	879	856	847	874	897	914	940	968	1,033	1,073	1,169	1,328	1,390	1,510	1,856	2,396
Rank	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1
%Change	7.4	2.9	6.0	6.83	6.4	2.79	-(1.38)	2.21	1.84	11.26	2.69	1.06	-(3.09)	-(2.56)	-(1.86)	-(2.77)	-(2.89)	-(6.29)	-(3.73)	-(8.21)	-(11.97)	-(4.46)	-(7.95)	-(18.64)	-(22.47)

Year	2022	2016	2011	2006	2002	1996	1991	1986	1981	1979	1971	1966	1961	1956	1951	1946	1936	1926	1911	1901	1891	1881	1871	1861	1851	1841
Population	591	551	542	504	464	431	421	431	424	418	390	401	418	446	471	493	525	552	611	646	724	820	846	911	1,008	1,419
Rank	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4
%Change	7.2	1.7	7.5	8.62	7.66	2.38	-(2.32)	1.65	1.44	7.18	-(2.74)	-(4.07)	-(6.28)	-(5.31)	-(4.46)	-(6.10)	-(4.89)	-(9.66)	-(5.42)	-(10.77)	-(11.71)	-(3.07)	-(7.14)	-(9.62)	-(28.86)

Year	2022	2016	2011	2006	2002	1996	1991	1986	1981	1979	1971	1966	1961	1956	1951	1946	1936	1926	1911	1901	1891	1881	1871	1861	1851	1841
Population	2,195	296	2,106	296	267	247	233	232	236	230	226	207	209	218	236	253	263	280	300	331	347	385	438	474	517	571	2,386
Rank	2	4	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	2
%Change	4.2	10.2	10.1	8.1	6.01	0.43	-(1.69)	2.61	1.77	9.18	-(0.96)	-(4.13)	-(7.63)	-(6.72)	-(3.80)	-(6.07)	-(6.67)	-(9.37)	-(4.61)	-(9.87)	-(12.10)	-(7.59)	-(8.32)	-(9.46)

Year	2022	2016	2011	2006	2002	1996	1991	1986	1981	1979	1971	1966	1961	1956	1951	1946	1931	1928	1911	1901	1891	1881	1871	1861	1851	1841
Population	1,458	1,345	1,271	1,186	1,122	1,058	1,025	1,021	1,003	983	852	795	718	705	693	636	586	505	477	448	419	418	405	410	405	372
Rank	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	5
%Change	7.8	5.8	7.0	5.7	6.05	3.22	0.39	1.8	2.04	15.37	7.17	10.72	1.84	1.73	8.96	8.53	16.04	5.87	6.47	6.92	0.24	3.21	- (1.22)	1.23	8.87

Year	2022	2016	2011	2006	2002	1996	1991	1986	1981	1979	1971	1966	1961	1956	1951	1946	1936	1926	1911	1901	1891	1881	1871	1861	1851	1841
Population	277	258	251	231	209	188	180	178	172	167	149	148	149	155	160	165	168	169	182	192	214	242	248	271	321	440
Rank]	3	3	5	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	2
%Change	6.9	2.8	8.1	10.53	11.17	4.44	1.12	3.49	2.91	12.08	0.68	- (0.68)	- (4.03)	- (3.13)	- (3.13)	- (1.82)	- (0.6)	- (7.7)	- (5.5)	- (11.46)	- (14.15)	− (2.42)	− (8.49)	− (15.58)	− (27.05)

Year	2022	2016	2011	2006	2002	1996	1991	1986	1981	1979	1971	1966	1961	1956	1951	1946	1936	1926	1911	1901	1891	1881	1871	1861	1851	1841
Population	584	542	519	481	447	420	410	412	402	396	352	339	330	336	341	343	355	365	391	404	438	495	517	544	649	854
Rank	2	2	4	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1
%Change	7.2	4.4	7.7	7.61	6.43	2.44	− (0.49)	2.48	1.52	12.5	3.84	2.73	- (1.82)	- (1.49)	- (0.59)	- (3.5)	- (2.82)	- (7.12)	- (3.3)	- (8.42)	- (13.01)	− (4.26)	− (4.96)	− (16.18)	− (24)

Year	2022	2016	2011	2006	2002	1996	1991	1986	1981	1979	1971	1966	1961	1956	1951	1946	1936	1926	1911	1901	1891	1881	1871	1861	1851	1841
Population	209	195	191	184	175	165	161	164	161	157	140	137	133	137	141	142	141	140	143	146	158	180	191	217	262	330
Rank	6	6	5	8	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	6	7	8	8	8	8	8	7	6	6
%Change	7.2	2.1	4.01	5.14	6.06	2.48	− (1.83)	1.86	2.55	12.14	2.19	3.01	- (3.01)	- (2.92)	- (0.71)	0.71	0.71	- (2.14)	- (2.10)	- (8.22)	- (13.92)	− (5.76)	− (11.98)	− (17.18)	− (20.61)

Year	2022	2016	2011	2006	2002	1996	1991	1986	1981	1979	1971	1966	1961	1956	1951	1946	1936	1926	1911	1901	1891	1881	1871	1861	1851	1841
Population	220	194	184	163	134	109	105	103	95	90	71	67	65	66	66	66	61	62	65	67	76	87	95	110	140	183
Rank	5	6	9	6	8	10	10	10	11	11	13	13	13	13	14	14	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	17	16	16
%Change	13.4	5.4	13.0	21.6	22.94	3.81	1.94	8.42	5.56	26.76	5.97	3.08	- (1.54)	-	-	8.2	- (1.64)	- (6.84)	- (3.08)	- (13.43)	- (11.84)	− (8.42)	− (13.64)	− (21.43)	− (23.5)

Year	2022	2016	2011	2006	2002	1996	1991	1986	1981	1979	1971	1966	1961	1956	1951	1946	1936	1926	1911	1901	1891	1881	1871	1861	1851	1841
Population	167	160	159	149	140	133	131	136	134	133	123	121	123	128	133	135	137	140	151	159	172	199	216	248	331	435
Rank	7	7	12	7	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	7	8	7	7	7	7	7	6	5	3	3
%Change	4.4	0.6	6.4	6.43	5.26	1.53	− (3.68)	1.49	0.75	8.13	1.65	- (1.65)	- (2.19)	- (2.19)	- (1.5)	- (1.5)	- (2.19)	- (7.86)	- (5.3)	- (8.18)	- (15.7)	− (8.87)	− (12.9)	− (25.08)	− (23.91)

Irish_population_analysis

Historical population

County populations 2016

Historical populations per province

Leinster

Munster

Connacht

Ulster

Historical populations per county

Dublin

Antrim

Down

Cork

Galway

Derry

Kildare

Limerick

Meath

Tyrone

Armagh

Tipperary

Donegal

Wexford

Kerry

Wicklow

Mayo

Louth

Clare

Waterford

Kilkenny

Westmeath

Laois

Offaly

Cavan

Sligo

Roscommon

Fermanagh

Monaghan

Carlow

Longford

Leitrim

See also

References

External links

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