Fifteen areas in the State, including parts of Dublin, saw a ‘natural population’ fall in 2022, according to the latest figures published.
The natural population figure is calculated by combining an area’s death rate with its birth rate, and it excludes inward or outward migration.
There was a fivefold increase in the number of local electoral areas (LEAs) across Ireland in which more deaths than births were recorded in 2022, new figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.
The majority of the 15 areas in question are rural towns in the west and south of the country, although the list also includes parts of Dublin typically seen to be more affluent than average, such as Rathfarnham-Templeogue and Dún Laoghaire in south Dublin.
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The figures are contained in a new release from the CSO.
The data covers the country’s 166 LEAs and shows the largest natural population decline occurred in Belmullet, Co Mayo, with a rate of -2.9.
The figure is calculated by combining an area’s death rate per thousand of population with its birth rate. In Belmullet’s case, the -2.9 figure was calculated from of a birth rate of 8.6 and a death rate of 11.5.
Other towns with a notably high natural decrease rate were Glenties, Co Donegal (-2.3), and Kenmare, Co Kerry (-1.2).
In these areas, an ageing population means death rates are consistently higher than birth rates with Belmullet and Glenties experiencing a decrease for two consecutive years, the CSO records show.
The other local areas that experienced a natural decrease in population were Swinford, Co Mayo; Kilrush, Co Clare; Ballinamore, Co Leitrim; Rosslare, Co Wexford; Tralee, Co Kerry; Boyle, Co Roscommon; Ballymote-Tobercurry, Co Sligo; Artane-Whitehall, Dublin; Bantry-West, Co Cork; and Castleisland, Co Kerry.
The highest rates of natural increase in population were all in Dublin: Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart and Ongar, both in the Fingal constituency of Dublin, and both with a rate of 9.7, as well as Tallaght South, South Dublin, where the rate was 9.6.
Nationwide, the CSO statistics show the rate of natural increase of population in 2022 stood at 3.5, with 54,483 births recorded and 35,804 deaths in total.
The CSO noted this rate “varied significantly across LEAs”, but that particularly high numbers of births and deaths were seen in urban areas in north Dublin.
The CSO data also showed the national birth rate stood at 10.2, with Tallaght South boasting the highest birth rate in the country at 13.7 live births per 1,000 people. Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, and Ongar, Fingal, in Dublin, were the other LEAs with the highest birth rates, at 13.3 and 13.2 respectively.
Seán O’Connor, a statistician with the CSO, said the newly released data “includes population statistics that are entirely based on administrative records, and as this release uses experimental methodology, [the] estimates are not official population statistics and are not comparable with Census of Population data”.
The census conducted in 2022 showed the population of the Republic of Ireland was 5,149,000, a 31 per cent increase from 2002.
In May the CSO released findings on the number of births and deaths recorded in Ireland during 2024 which showed the national fertility rate to be 1.5, a decrease of 0.4 from 2014.
“A value of 2.1 is generally considered to be the level at which the population would replace itself in the long run, ignoring migration,” the CSO said.
The CSO findings also showed that the rates of deaths related to tumours and cancers were highest in Tralee, Co Kerry; Swinford, Co Mayo; and Roscrea-Templemore, Co Tipperary.
Deaths caused by respiratory diseases such as influenza, pneumonia and bronchitis were most common in Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim; Ballinasloe, Co Galway; and Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.
