Migration - the facts
- Published on: 7 October 2024
- Last updated on: 8 October 2024
Who can come here and how
Thousands of people leave Ireland each year to live in other countries, and thousands more come here to live, work and study.
We take a fair approach to immigration, and people and families are welcome to live and work in Ireland if they satisfy our conditions:
- People from the countries in the European Economic Area and UK nationals can live and work in Ireland without a visa or work permit and Irish nationals can do the same in the EU and UK.
- People from outside the European Economic Area apply for permission to work, live or study here. Similarly, Irish people moving to non-European Economic Area countries need to seek permission from those countries.
- Ukrainian people fleeing Russia’s invasion have EU Temporary Protection. This means they can live and work in Ireland or throughout the EU.
- People seeking International Protection come here looking for asylum and safety. There is a clear and fair process in place for International Protection applications and decisions.
Migration in numbers
In April 2024, Ireland's estimated population was 5.38 million people.
- 84.5% of our population are Irish citizens.
- 15.5% of our population are citizens of other countries.
The majority of our non-Irish population come from other EU nations or the UK.
From the 2022 census, of our non-Irish population:
- Nearly 50% were from other EU countries
- 13% were from the UK
- The remaining approximately 37% were from outside the EU or UK.
In the year to April 2024:
- We had 149,200 people move to Ireland and 69,900 people move from Ireland
- People coming into the country consisted of 30,000 returning Irish citizens, 27,000 other EU citizens, 5,400 UK citizens, and 86,800 other citizens including Ukrainians
- People leaving the country consisted of 34,700 Irish citizens, 10,600 other EU citizens, 3,000 UK citizens, and 21,500 other citizens including Ukrainians.
Source: CSO.
Immigration types and numbers
In 2023 we processed 270,000 applications for entry into Ireland or other immigration services, including:
- 167,000 applications for visas – 61.8%
- 33,000 applications for temporary protection (related to Ukraine) – 12.2%
- 23,000 citizenship applications – 8.5%
- 13,000 applications for international protection – 4.81%
In total in Ireland, there are about 32,000 people living in international protection accommodation (September 2024). This number changes regularly as people arrive and leave the process.
Over 107,000 people have arrived from the Ukraine since 2022 and been granted temporary protection.
Migration, our economy and services
2.7 million people are working in Ireland right now, and half a million of them are non-Irish citizens. This is about 1 in 5 workers in Ireland.
We have full employment in Ireland. This means that many services or sectors are finding it hard to fill their jobs and find staff.
At the moment, we benefit from migration as people come here to fill jobs, bring skills and support our economic growth.
Over the past 10 years there has been a very significant increase in the numbers of non-Irish people employed in the Irish economy. This workforce has helped Ireland as a whole to recover from the global financial crisis and to become wealthier and more productive over recent years.
Every year, our non-Irish workers contribute to our economy through taxes and PRSI, work permit fees, immigration registration fees, higher education fees and personal spending.
(Source: CSO)
Migrant workers bring skills and experience that are much needed in the current labour market.
Migrants are working across all sectors of our economy but they are particularly important in our healthcare, construction, retail and hospitality sectors. International skills in engineering, science, information and communication technology (ICT), research and innovation are also important to Ireland’s competitiveness and continued prosperity.
Healthcare
We have a very international healthcare workforce in Ireland, providing expert and skilled care in hospitals, community services and in people’s homes, all over Ireland. Our health service is highly dependent on international nurses and midwives coming here to work.
In 2023, more than 23% of all nurses and midwives directly employed by the HSE were from outside Ireland, and nearly 15% were from India (HSE workforce report, December 2023).
In 2023, nearly 4 in every 10 doctors registered with the Irish Medical Council were trained outside
Ireland, and 1 in 4 were trained outside the UK and EU. The three most common countries where international graduates trained were Pakistan, Sudan, and the UK. More than 7 in 10 new doctors registered in 2022 were trained abroad.
Construction
As of 2023, there were 27,500 migrant workers in Ireland’s construction sector, an increase of 84% (or 12,600 workers) since 2021.
The number of Irish people entering the construction industry fell significantly following the global financial crisis. Since then, Ireland has benefitted from and relied on migrant construction workers and workforce shortages in the sector still remain. More construction workers will be needed to meet Ireland’s climate and housing targets by 2030.
Hospitality
Ireland’s labour market benefits from migrants working in food and accommodation services, with over 82,000 migrants working in these two hospitality areas alone.
Planning for more services
Ireland has a growing population and a growing economy. As we grow, there are pressures on our society in many areas.
Our health service currently benefits from migration, and people who are choosing to move here and work within our healthcare system are helping us to meet the needs of patients and our population.
Our construction industry benefits from skilled migration construction workers, as the drive to build more housing and infrastructure continues.
The Government is working to address and improve services across society to improve access to healthcare and to build more housing across the country. Read more about these healthcare and housing strategies.