The natural rate of population increase in Ireland, meaning the number of births compared with deaths has shrunk to its lowest level in over twenty years. The number of births in the 12 months to 2020 compared with the previous year dropped by about 10pc.
The data is contained in the CSO’s Population and Migration Estimates report for the year April 2020 to April 2021 which was published on Tuesday.
There were 55,500 births and 32,700 deaths in the year to April, giving a natural increase in the population of 22,800. But it’s the lowest level of natural increase recorded since the 2000 population estimates.
Nonetheless, a combination of positive net migration and natural increase gave population growth of 34,000 in the year to April 2021 to push the population to an estimated 5.01m, the first time it has risen over five million since 1851.
