Census 2016 figures show the number of non-Irish nationals living in Ireland decreased by 1.6 per cent between 2011 and 2016

22 Sep 2017

Overview

In April 2016, there were 535,475 non-Irish nationals from 200 different nations living in Ireland. This represents a 1.6 per cent decreased on the 2011 Census figure of 544,357.

The highest nationality grouping was:

  • Polish: 211,515
  • UK nationals: 103,113
  • Lithuanian: 36,552
  • Romanian: 29,186
  • Latvian: 19,933
  • Brazilian: 13,640

Non-Irish nationals at county level

The highest numbers of non-Irish nationals were resident in the following administrative counties:

  • Dublin City: 91,876
  • Fingal: 46,909
  • Cork County: 42,002

Dual nationality

The number of persons with a dual Irish nationality almost doubled to 104,784 in Census 2016 from 55,905 in 2011.

The highest dual nationalities were:

  • Irish-Americans: 17,552
  • Irish-UK: 15,428
  • Irish-Polish: 9,273

Demographics

The gender breakdown of non-Irish nationals comprised:

  • 267,088 males
  • 268,387 females

Nearly half of all non-Irish nationals were in the 25-42 year age group, compared with less than a quarter of Irish nationals. Persons aged 65 years or over accounted for less than 5 per cent of the non-Irish population in contrast to nearly 15 per cent for Irish nationals.  In the younger age groups just 12.3 per cent of non-Irish nationals were aged 0 to 14 years compared with 22.5 per cent of Irish nationals.

Labour force

  •  293,830 non-Irish nationals were at work in Ireland in April 2016 (14.9 per cent of the workforce).
  • Almost 15.4 per cent of non-Irish nationals were unemployed compared to 12.6 per cent of Irish nationals.

The top 5 non-Irish nationalities at work in Ireland:

  • Polish: 75,508
  • UK nationals: 48,091
  • Lithuanian: 21,674
  • Romanian: 17,134
  • Latvian: 10,980

The main sectors of employment were:

  • Wholesale and Retail trade: 45,812
  • Accommodation and Food Services: 40,859
  • Manufacturing Industries: 36,387
  • Human Health and Social Work: 21,779

Recent Immigration

In the year prior to April 2016, 82,346 persons arrived to live in Ireland of which 53,708 were non-Irish nationals and 28,143 were Irish nationals (495 did not state their nationality):

  • UK nationals were the largest group (5,840)
  • followed by Polish nationals (4,029).

For more information:

See CSO Press Release and Infographic.

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