Immigration from US to Ireland spikes as Australia is top destination for emigration

People are leaving Ireland for Australia in the greatest numbers since the recession, while the number of people moving here from the United States is at its highest since the Central Statistics Office (CSO) began compiling these figures almost 40 years ago.

In its update on Ireland’s population and migration estimates in the year to April, the CSO said the country’s usually resident population stood at 5,458,600.

This is significantly higher than the 5.14 million recorded in the last census in 2022, although the CSO said the figures were not directly comparable given the differences in how the data is gathered.

Ireland’s population continues to age rapidly, with 861,100 people aged 65 and over. This was an increase of 22.8%, or 159,700 people, since 2019.

More Irish citizens left the country than returned to it in the last year, with 35,000 leaving to live abroad, and 31,500 returning to live here.

CSO statistician Conor J Crowley said: “The number of immigrants, or those entering the State, in the year to April 2025 was estimated to be 125,300, while the number of emigrants, or those leaving the State, over the same period was estimated at 65,600.

“These combined flows gave positive net migration [more people having arrived than left], of 59,700 in the year to April 2025, compared with 79,300 in the previous year.”

Ireland’s population rose by 78,300 in the year to April, which included the 59,700 net migration figure, along with 18,600 more births than deaths recorded.

There were 63,600 immigrants classified as “rest of the world”, which excludes Irish, UK and EU citizens, and this was a 27% decrease on the previous year.

Of these, 9,600 were people moving from the United States to Ireland. This was increase was up of almost 5,000 on the year before. This was the highest number ever recorded in CSO figures dating back to 1987.

On the other hand, there was also a 22% increase in people leaving Ireland to live in the US in the last year.

Turning to Australia, the 12 months to April 2025 saw 13,500 leaving Ireland to go to Australia. This was a rise of 27% from the year before and almost a trebling from 2023.

It is the highest level of emigration to Australia since 2013 when Ireland was still emerging from recession following the economic downturn.

In comparison to Ireland’s ageing population over 65, there has been a downward trend in births since 2010, according to the CSO.

“There were 290,100 people aged between 0 and 4 years in the country in April 2025, this is a decrease of 68,100 (-19%) from the 2012 figure of 358,200 people and a decrease of 3,100 (1%) in the past 12 months,” the CSO said.

The region with the highest population growth was Dublin, where its population now stands at 1.568 million.

Combined with the greater Dublin area, including Kildare, Meath, Wicklow and Louth, along with Cork and Kerry in Munster, these counties account for 57.5% of the country’s population.