The number of people aged 65 and over increased by 159,700 people between 2019 and 2025, according to new figures released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The 65 and over population share rose to 15.8 percent of the total this year, up from 14.1 percent in April 2019.
Meanwhile, the only age group to see a fall in population size between 2019 and 2025 was those aged 0 to 14.
In 2019, there were 1,015,500 people aged between 0-14 living in Ireland, a figure that fell by approximately 15,400 to 1,000,100 by 2025.
The population share of this age group has decreased from 20.5 percent in 2019 to 18.3 percent in 2025.
There were 1,407,200 people living in Ireland aged between 45 and 64 years in April 2025, a grouping that also saw an increased population share between 2019 and 2025 – up from 24.4 percent to 25.8 percent of the total (or 195,500 people).
Likewise, the volume of people living in Ireland in both the 15 – 24 year age group and those aged between 25 and 44 years has increased between 2019 and 2025, by 72,800 and 87,600 respectively.
While the proportional share of the 15 – 24 year age group in the overall population slightly increased from 12.6 percent in 2019 to 12.8 percent in 2025, despite the numerical increase, the share for the 25 – 44 year age group decreased, from 28.4 percent to 27.4 percent over the same period.
According to the CSO, a “downward trend in births since 2010 has driven declines in those aged between 0-4 years since 2012,” with the same trend leading to a decline in those aged between five and nine years of age from 2017 onwards.
There were 55,200 people under the age of one in the country in April 2025, a volume decrease of 19,700 (-26 percent) from the 2010 figure of 74,900 people.
Similarly, there were 290,100 people aged between zero and four years in the country in April 2025, a decrease of 68,100 (-19 percent) from the 2012 figure of 358,200 people.
Overall, Ireland’s population was found to have grown by 78,300 people in the year to April 2025, to an estimated 5,458,600 people.
The number of immigrants in the year to April 2025 was estimated to be 125,300, while the number of emigrants over the same period was estimated at 65,600.
Taken together, Ireland saw positive net migration (more people having arrived than left), of 59,700 people.
This is to be compared with 79,300 in the previous year, according to the CSO.
The number of immigrants in the 12 months to April 2025 fell by 23,900, or 16 percent, when compared with the previous year, and was made up of 31,500 returning Irish citizens, 25,300 other EU citizens, 4,900 UK citizens, and 63,600 “other citizens”.
The 63,600 “Rest of World citizens” in the year to April 2025 represented a 27 percent decrease from the previous 12 months, which saw 86,800 Rest of World citizens immigrating to Ireland.
The number of emigrants in the 12 months to April 2025 fell slightly by 6.2 percent when compared with 2024, and consisted of 35,000 Irish citizens, 10,500 other EU citizens, 2,700 UK citizens, and 17,400 “other citizens”.
There were 54,400 births and 35,800 deaths in the year to April 2025, resulting in a natural increase of 18,600 people.
That figure represents a fall of 800, or four percent, from the natural increase seen in 2024.
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