The State’s population has risen by almost 800,000 in the last decade, with two-thirds of the increase coming from net inward migration.
Figures indicate that the Republic’s population grew by 786,000 or 16.6 per cent between 2016 and 2026 to stand at 5.5 million.
This was the third highest increase in the European Union behind Malta and Luxembourg. It compares to an overall EU population increase of less than 2 per cent.
The Central Statistics Office said the Republic’s population growth was driven by positive net migration and by a natural increase as a result of more births than deaths.
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Net migration – the difference between the number of people moving to and from the State – totalled 511,000 since 2016, which accounted for 65 per cent of the overall increase in population here.
“Over the last 10 years, Ireland has consistently recorded positive net migration,” the CSO said.
“However, net migration in 2026 fell by 19.4 per cent (to 48,100) compared with the previous year. Net migration peaked at 79,300 in 2024,” it said.
The agency’s latest Measuring Ireland’s Progress report noted that over the last 10 years the natural increase in the population (births minus deaths) has almost halved, from 35,600 in 2016 to 18,800 in 2026.
During the period, the proportion of the population aged 45 and over rose from 37.1 per cent to 42.2 per cent, whereas the proportion aged under 45 fell from 62.9 per cent to 57.8 per cent.
In 2025, Ireland also had the highest young-age dependency ratio in the EU at 28.1 per cent. This ratio measures the number of children aged under 15 years as a proportion of the “working-age population” aged 15-64.
The State also had the second lowest old-age dependency ratio (the number of people aged 65 or over as a proportion of those aged 15-64) in the EU at 23.8 per cent.
With households in the grip of another inflationary surge, the CSO’s report also noted Ireland had the second-highest price level for consumer goods and services in the EU in 2025 at 36.2 per cent above the EU average, while Denmark had the highest at 39.7 per cent above average.
The figures also indicated that the State’s national debt has fallen to its lowest level since the banking crisis began in 2008.
Total debt fell to just under €210 billion last year, equating to 63 per cent of modified gross national income (GNI*), the agency’s bespoke measure of national income here.
In the wake of the banking bailouts post-2008, Ireland’s debt as a percentage of GNI* soared to 166 per cent.
The State’s improved debt picture since then stands in stark contrast to the trend internationally, with debt crises engulfing several countries, most notably France, the United States and the United Kingdom.
France’s debt – at €3.6 trillion – is currently 120 per cent of the country’s income. The worsening trajectory of its annual fiscal deficit has triggered a surge in French bond yields, hiking up the annual cost of servicing its debt.
Ireland’s debt-to-GDP ratio has been helped more by the rise in national income rather than a reduction in the debt itself.
The State’s GDP has doubled to €602.4 billion since 2015 on the back of huge multinational-led investment.
As a percentage of GDP, Ireland’s debt was 32.9 per cent last year, the fifth-lowest government debt-to-GDP ratio in the EU.
However, it still equated to €37,988 for every person in the State, which is large by international standards.
CSO’s figures also indicated that Ireland recorded the highest annual GDP growth rate within the EU, at 8 per cent.
This represented a reversal from 2023, when Ireland experienced the lowest GDP growth rate in the EU, at -3.3 per cent.
