THE PRELIMINARY results of the 2022 Census shows that Ireland's population is at the highest on record since 1841, currently standing at 5,123,536.
That represents a 7.6% increase since the 2016 Census.
There were 2,593,600 females and 2,529,936 males recorded, which is an increase of 7.7% and 7.5% respectively. The population increase of 361,671 was made up of a natural increase (births minus deaths) of 171,338 and estimated net inward migration (population change minus natural increase) of 190,333.
The counties which recorded the highest population growth were in Leinster, with Longford growing by more than 14%. Meath, Kildare and Fingal also grew strongly.
The results also show that every county has increased in population since 2016, in contrast to the 2016 Census when three counties (Mayo, Sligo and Donegal) fell in population.
Commenting on the results, Taoiseach Micheál Martin welcomed the news that the population had reached 5 million.
"I also welcome confirmation that the population has increased across every part of the country, with every county in Ireland seeing an increase in their population since 2016, as part of an overall increase of nearly 8% in that time," he said.
"What this illustrates is the importance of the government’s continuing need to invest in the provision of public services and infrastructure, in childcare, housing, health and education, to keep up with this population growth."
The preliminary results also show that the total housing stock on 3 April 2022 was 2,124,590, an increase of 6.0% on the 2016 figure.
"While the number of houses has increased, we clearly need to build more homes as quickly as we can, and the Housing for All plan will ramp-up housing output further in the next few years," Mr Martin continued.
Cormac Halpin, Senior Statistician in the Census Division, said the publication of the results, less than 12 weeks after Census night, "is only possible thanks to the commitment and dedication of both our census field staff and the permanent census staff in Swords, as well as the continued support for the census from the public."
"The CSO would like to thank both the staff involved in the census for their hard work, and the public for their overwhelmingly positive response to and engagement with our national census," he continued.
"The results provide valuable initial insights into how our population and housing situation is changing and developing since Census 2016. We are busy working on the completed census forms and look forward to begin sharing the full set of detailed results from April next year.”
