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The Bray Air Show. Wicklow is one of four counties expected to see an upward surge in population growth Alamy Stock Photo
Not beyond the pale
Counties in Dublin 'commuter belt' to experience highest population growth over next 20 years
Counties Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow are expected to see dramatic increases in population growth by 2042.
THE POPULATION OF Ireland is projected to increase to between 5.7 and 6.4 million by 2042, with counties in Dublin’s ‘commuter belt’ expected to see the highest population growth.
The rising population growth in Dublin’s surrounding counties can be attributed to a number of factors, including cost of living in Dublin, and improving public transport services to Dublin in neighbouring counties.
According to Regional Population Projections released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) today, Ireland’s population is expected to grow by at least 500,000 over the next 17 years, with high-end estimates showing a national population growth of 1.2 million.
The CSO estimates that the current population of Ireland is 5,380,300.
CSO data shows the ‘mid-east region’, which includes Kildare, Meath, Louth and Wicklow, is expected to see the largest increases.
The Mid-East region which accounted for 14.9% of the total population share in 2022, is projected to increase under all three scenarios to between 15.5% and 16.1% by 2042.
The Mid-East region is expected to experience the highest regional population growth by 2042https://t.co/V8l8SXZ8jr#CSOIreland #Ireland #Population #PopulationEstimates #Migration #MigrationEstimates pic.twitter.com/tpW56SFJaL
— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) January 29, 2025
While population growth is expected in all regions of Ireland, the South-West (Cork City and County, Kerry), Mid-West (Clare, Limerick, Tipperary), and Border (Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo) regions are projected to account for a lower percentage share of the total population of Ireland by 2042.
Furthermore, the number of people aged 65 and over is set to increase significantly over this time period across a range of projections.
Hitting one million people by 2030, this section of the population could increase by as much as 62% in some parts of the country by 2042.
As Ireland’s population grow older, the number of persons aged between 0 and 14 years is expected to reduce to 859,400 by 2042.
The CSO projections make a range of assumptions around how the population could change and move over the coming years. One is that there will be continued outflows of people moving out of Dublin to live in other parts of the country, following on from recent trends.
Annually, the CSO said that Dublin could have a net annual migration of 4,600 people to other parts of the country.
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