Ireland's population reaches 7 million for first time since the 19th century

THE POPULATION OF the island of Ireland has reached 7 million for the first time since the 19th century.

A joint project between Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NIRSA) combined 2022 Census data from both sides of the border and found the total population to be 7.1 million. 

In 2022, the population south of the border was 5.15 million and the population north of the border was 1.91 million.

The research also found that Northern Ireland is more densely populated than the Republic. 

The population density was 73 per square km south of the border and 141 per square km to the north. 

People in Northern Ireland are slightly older, with a median age of 40, while the median age in the Republic was 38. Both of those median ages were lower than the EU’s 44.

Northern Ireland has a larger proportion of people aged 65 and over at 18%, compared to the Republic’s 15%. 

There are also slightly more females on the island than males.

The population of the island of Ireland was made up of 3,484,496 males and 3,575,186 females, a sex ratio of 97.5 males to every 100 females.

The population on the island of Ireland was roughly 8.5 million before the Great Famine of 1844. By the end of the famine, the population had fallen down to about 6.6 million.