By Tomas Doherty
The number of Irish people returning to Ireland has overtaken the number of people emigrating.
An estimated 28,900 Irish nationals returned to the State in the year to April 2020 compared with 28,300 who emigrated during the year, according to figures published by the Central Statistics Office.
This is the highest number of returning Irish nationals since 2007.
It also represents an increase of 2,600 from last year when net outward migration of Irish nationals was estimated to be -2,100.
The combined effect of positive net migration and natural increase resulted in an overall increase in the population of the State by 55,900, or 1.1 per cent, to 4.98 million people at April 2020.
There were 644,400 non-Irish nationals in the State, accounting for 12.9 per cent of the population.
The number of births in the year to April 2020 was 58,300 while the number of deaths was 31,200, resulting in a natural increase of the population of 27,100. This is the lowest level of natural increase recorded since the 2001 population estimates, according to the CSO.
The Dublin region experienced the strongest growth in the year, with its population increasing by 22,100. The overall population of Dublin in April 2020 was estimated to be almost 1.42 million people, working out as 28.5 per cent of the total population of the State.
In April 2020, 720,100 persons were estimated to be aged 65 years and over, reflecting an increase of 90,200 persons (14.3 per cent) in this age group since April 2016.
