Demographics of Northern Ireland

Demographics of Northern Ireland
Population pyramid of Northern Ireland in 2020
Population	1,903,175 (2021 census)
Density	133 per km2
Life expectancy
• male	77.2 years
• female	80.8 years
Age structure
0–14 years	19%
15–64 years	64%
65 and over	17%
Nationality
Major ethnic	White 97%
Minor ethnic	other ethnic groups 3%

Map of population density in Northern Ireland according to the 2011 census

Northern Ireland is the smallest of the four components of the United Kingdom in terms of both area and population, containing 2.9% of the total population and 5.7% of the total area of the United Kingdom. It is the smaller of the two political entities on the island of Ireland by area and population, the other being the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland contains 27.1% of the total population and 16.75% of the total area of the island of Ireland.

The Belfast Metropolitan Area dominates in population terms, with over a third of the inhabitants of Northern Ireland.

When Northern Ireland was created, it had a Protestant majority of approximately two-to-one, ^{[1] [2] [3]} unlike the Republic of Ireland, where Catholics were in the majority. ^[4] The 2001 census was the first to show that the Protestant and other (non-Catholic) Christian share of the population had dropped below 50%, but 53.1% still identified as being from a Protestant or other Christian background. In the 2011 census, this dropped to 48.4%. ^{[5] [3]} In 2021, the recorded number of Catholics by background (45.7%) overtook the Protestant and other Christian by background share (43.48%), becoming the plurality, with no group in the overall majority. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9]}

Its people speak Irish (Gaelic), Ulster Scots and Ulster English which is itself heavily influenced by the Scots language of which Ulster Scots is a dialect. In addition the Ulster dialect of Irish (Gaelic) also has a closer connection to Scottish Gaelic than other Irish (Gaelic) dialects. This is both because of historic links with Scotland going back centuries, and because of settlements of lowland Scots Protestants in Ulster in the 17th century, such as the Plantation of Ulster.

Also unlike the Republic, a large proportion of people in Northern Ireland have a British national identity, although a significant minority identifies as Irish. Many people in Northern Ireland have a Northern Irish identity, whether in addition to a British or Irish identity or by itself.

Population of Northern Ireland over time

Historic population trends

Population census

Year	Pop.	±%
1841	1,648,945	—
1851	1,442,517	−12.5%
1861	1,396,453	−3.2%
1871	1,359,190	−2.7%
1881	1,304,816	−4.0%
1891	1,236,056	−5.3%
1901	1,236,952	+0.1%
1911	1,250,531	+1.1%
1926	1,256,561	+0.5%
1951	1,370,921	+9.1%
1961	1,425,042	+3.9%
1971	1,536,065	+7.8%
1981	1,543,000	+0.5%
1991	1,607,300	+4.2%
2001	1,685,267	+4.9%
2011	1,810,863	+7.5%
2021	1,903,175	+5.1%
Note: 1981 and 1991 data [10] Data for years prior to 1926 are from the Census of Ireland, for those counties that became Northern Ireland in 1920. 2019 estimates [11]

Cities and towns by population [12]
Belfast Derry	#	Settlement	Population	Metro population	Lisburn Newry
	1	Belfast	334,420	671,559
	2	Derry	84,750	237,000
	3	Lisburn [13]	71,403
	4	Greater Craigavon	68,890
	5	Newtownabbey [13]	66,120
	6	Bangor [13]	62,650
	7	Ballymena	30,590
	8	Newtownards	28,860
	9	Newry	28,080
	10	Carrickfergus [13]	27,640

Fertility

• Fertility statistics
• 
  Percentage of births born outside of wedlock in Northern Ireland
• 
  Age of mother at birth in Northern Ireland

Place of birth

Map showing the percentage of the population born outside Northern Ireland according to the 2011 census.

In 2001, 91.0% of the population were born in Northern Ireland, 7.2% were born in other parts of the UK and Ireland, and 1.8% were born elsewhere. By 2011, the proportion of immigrants from outside the UK and Ireland had risen to 4.3%, while the proportion born within them (outside Northern Ireland) had fallen to 6.7%. The highest number of non-British/Irish immigrants are in Belfast, followed by Craigavon Urban Area and Dungannon. Dungannon has a bigger share of immigrants than any town in Northern Ireland, while Strabane has the smallest share of these immigrants. ^[14]

Place of Birth	2001 [15]		2011 [16]		2021 [17]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Northern Ireland	1,534,268	91.04	1,608,853	88.84	1,646,276	86.50%
England	61,609	3.66	64,717	3.57	72,940	3.83%
Scotland	16,772	1.00	15,455	0.85	16,521	0.87%
Wales	3,008	0.18	2,552	0.14	2,796	0.15%
Republic of Ireland	39,051	2.32	37,833	2.09	40,357	2.12%
Other European Union member countries	10,355	0.61			67,451	3.54%
— Member countries prior to 2004 expansion			9,703	0.54
— Accession countries 2004 onwards			35,704	1.97
Other outside the EU	20,204	1.20	36,046	1.99	57,012	2.99%
Europe					3,689	0.19%
Africa					10,761	0.57%
Middle East and Asia					29,241	1.54%
North, Central America and Caribbean					8,207	0.43%
South America					1,858	0.10%
Oceania and other					3,076	0.16%
Total	1,685,267	100.00	1,810,863	100.00	1,903,173	100%

Below are the 5 largest foreign-born groups in Northern Ireland according to 2014 ONS estimates. ^[18]

Country of birth	Estimated population, 2013	Estimated population, 2014	Estimated population, 2015
Poland	25,000	20,000	18,000
Lithuania	7,000	8,000	13,000
India	8,000	6,000	6,000
Philippines	3,000	4,000	5,000

Ethnicity

Ethnic demography of Northern Ireland from 2001 to 2021

Population pyramid of Northern Ireland by ethnicity in 2021

The following table shows the ethnic group of respondents for the following censuses

Ethnic group	2001 [19]		2011 [20]		2021 [21] [22]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
White: Total	1,672,698	99.25%	1,779,750	98.28%	1,841,713	96.77%
White	1,670,988	99.15%	1,778,449	98.21%	–	–
White: British/Irish/Northern Irish only (national identity) and Christian/no religion/religion not stated (religion)	–	–	–	–	1,749,970	91.9%
White: Other	–	–	–	–	87,607	4.6%
White: Irish Traveller/White Gypsy	1,710	0.10%	1,301	0.07%	2,609	0.14%
White: Roma	–	–	–	–	1,529	0.08%
Asian or Asian British: Total	6,824	0.40%	19,130	1.06%	30,667	1.61%
Asian/Asian British: Indian	1,567	0.09%	6,198	0.34%	9,881	0.52%
Asian/Asian British: Pakistani	668	0.04%	1,091	0.06%	1,596	0.08%
Asian/Asian British: Bangladeshi	252	0.01%	540	0.03%	–	–
Asian/Asian British: Chinese	4,145	0.25%	6,303	0.35%	9,495	0.50%
Asian/Asian British: Filipino					4,451	0.23%
Asian/Asian British: Asian Other	194	0.01%	4,998	0.28%	5,244	0.28%
Black or Black British: Total	1,136	0.07%	3,616	0.20%	11,032	0.58%
Black or Black British: Caribbean	255	0.02%	372	0.02%	–	–
Black or Black British: African	494	0.03%	2,345	0.13%	8,069	0.42%
Black or Black British: Other	387	0.02%	899	0.05%	2,963	0.16%
Mixed: Total	3,319	0.20%	6,014	0.33%	14,382	0.76%
Other: Any other ethnic group:Total	1,290	0.08%	2,353	0.13%	5,385	0.29%
Other: Any other ethnic group	–	–	–	–	3,568	0.19%
Other: Arab	–	–	–	–	1,817	0.10%
Total	1,685,267	100%	1,810,863	100%	1,903,179	100%

• Population pyramids of ethnic groups within Northern Ireland in 2021
• 
  White
• 
  White British and Irish
• 
  White Other
• 
  Ethnic minorities
• 
  Mixed

Languages spoken

Main article: Languages of Northern Ireland

English is by far the most commonly spoken language in Northern Ireland. Two regional languages of Northern Ireland, Irish and Ulster Scots, are protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Several other languages are spoken by immigrants to Northern Ireland, the most common of which is Polish.

A question about knowledge of Irish was reintroduced to the census in 1991, for the first time since 1911. In 2011, the census question was modified to ask about Ulster Scots alongside Irish. ^[23]

Foreign languages. Map showing the percentage of people whose main language was other than English or Irish (Gaelic) in the 2011 census. Those stating Ulster Scots as their main language were negligible in number and not analysed geographically by NISRA.

Main language of all usual residents aged 3 and over

Main language	2011 [24]		2021 [25]
	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion
English	1,681,171	96.86%	1,751,510	95.37%
Polish	17,731	1.02%	20,134	1.10%
Lithuanian	6,250	0.36%	8,978	0.49%
Irish	4,164	0.24%	5,969	0.32%
Portuguese	2,293	0.13%	4,982	0.27%
Slovak	2,257	0.13%	2,333	0.13%
Chinese	2,214	0.13%	3,329	0.18%
Tagalog/Filipino	1,895	0.11%	1,339	0.07%
Latvian	1,273	0.07%	1,700	0.09%
Russian	1,191	0.07%	1,605	0.09%
Hungarian	1,008	0.06%	2,172	0.12%
Other	13,090	0.75%	28,293	1.5%
Total			1,836,616	100%

Percentage of people aged 3+ claiming to have some ability in Irish in the 2011 census

Ability in Irish of all usual residents aged 3 and over in the Census ^{[26] [27]}

Ability in Irish	2001 [28]		2011 [29]		2021 [25]
	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion
Understands spoken Irish, but cannot speak, read, or write	36,479	2.25%	70,501	4.06%	90,801	4.94%
Can speak but cannot read or write Irish	24,536	1.52%	24,677	1.43%	37,497	2.04%
Can speak and read but cannot write Irish	7,183	0.44%	7,414	0.43%	9,683	0.53%
Can speak, read, write, and understand Irish	75,125	4.64%	64,847	3.74%	71,872	3.91%
Other combination of skills	24,167	1.49%	17,459	1.01%	18,764	1.02%
Has some knowledge of Irish	167,490	10.35%	184,898	10.65%	228,617	12.45%

Percentage of people aged 3+ claiming to have some ability in Ulster Scots in the 2011 census

Ability in Ulster Scots of all usual residents aged 3 and over in the Census ^[30]

Ability in Ulster Scots	2011 [31]		2021 [25]
	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion
Understands spoken Ulster Scots, but cannot speak, read, or write	92,040	5.30%	115,088	6.27%
Can speak but cannot read or write Ulster Scots	10,265	0.59%	26,570	1.45%
Can speak and read but cannot write Ulster Scots	7,801	0.45%	12,297	0.67%
Can speak, read, write, and understand Ulster Scots	16,373	0.94%	20,930	1.14%
Other combination of skills	13,725	0.79%	15,728	0.86%
Has some knowledge of Ulster Scots	140,204	8.08%	190,613	10.38%

Religion

Map of religion or religion brought up in from the 2011 census in Northern Ireland. Stronger blue indicates a higher proportion of Catholics. Stronger red indicates a higher proportion of Protestants and Other Christians.

See also: Religion in Northern Ireland and List of districts in Northern Ireland by religion or religion brought up in

Districts of Northern Ireland by predominant religion as they were at the time of the 2011 census. Blue is Catholic and red is Protestant.

Population pyramid of Northern Ireland by religion brought up in 2021

For the first century that Northern Ireland existed, the majority or plurality of its population identified with Protestantism, and with its founding, the region was intended to have a permanent Protestant majority. ^[32] With the 2021 census, Catholics outnumbered Protestants for the first time. The following table shows the religion stated by respondents to the 2001, 2011 and 2021 censuses.

Religious affiliation in Northern Ireland

Religion stated	2001 [33]		2011 [34]		2021 [35]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Roman Catholic	678,462	40.2	738,033	40.8	805,151	42.3
Presbyterian Church in Ireland	348,742	20.7	345,101	19.1	316,103	16.6
Church of Ireland	257,788	15.3	248,821	13.7	219,788	11.5
Methodist Church in Ireland	59,173	3.5	54,253	3.0	44,728	2.4
Other Christian	102,221	6.1	104,380	5.8	130,377	6.9
(Total non-Roman Catholic Christian)	767,924	45.6	752,555	41.6	710,996	37.3
(Total Christian)	1,446,386	85.8	1,490,588	82.3	1,516,147	79.6
Other religion	5,028	0.3	14,859	0.8	25,519	1.3
No religion			183,164	10.1	330,983	17.4
Religion not stated			122,252	6.8	30,529	1.6
(No religion and Religion not stated)	233,853	13.9	305,416	16.9	361,512	19.0
Total population	1,685,267	100.0	1,810,863	100.0	1,903,175	100.0

The religious affiliations in the districts of Northern Ireland at the time of the 2011 census were as follows. Note that these boundaries changed in 2015.

District	2001 [36]			2011 [37]			2021 [38]
	Catholic	Protestant and other Christian	Other or none	Catholic	Protestant and other Christian	Other or none	Catholic	Protestant and other Christian	No religion/not stated	Other
Antrim	35.2%	47.2%	17.6%	37.5%	43.2%	19.2%	38.1%	39.0%	21.6%	1.3%
Ards	10.4%	68.7%	20.9%	10.9%	65.4%	23.6%	10.9%	58.8%	29.2%	1.1%
Armagh	45.4%	45.5%	9.1%	44.8%	43.0%	12.2%	46.4%	41.1%	11.7%	0.9%
Ballymena	19.0%	67.8%	13.3%	20.4%	63.3%	16.3%	21.3%	58.4%	19.5%	0.7%
Ballymoney	29.5%	59.1%	11.3%	29.6%	56.7%	13.6%	30.0%	53.8%	15.5%	0.6%
Banbridge	28.6%	58.7%	12.7%	29.4%	55.3%	15.3%	31.0%	49.4%	18.6%	0.9%
Belfast	42.1%	40.3%	17.5%	41.9%	34.1%	24.0%	42.5%	29.7%	24.5%	3.3%
Carrickfergus	6.5%	70.4%	23.1%	7.6%	67.2%	25.2%	7.6%	59.5%	31.8%	1.2%
Castlereagh	15.8%	64.9%	19.3%	19.5%	57.3%	23.2%	21.8%	48.4%	28.2%	1.7%
Coleraine	24.1%	60.5%	15.4%	25.0%	56.8%	18.2%	25.3%	52.5%	21.2%	1.0%
Cookstown	55.2%	38.0%	6.8%	55.1%	34.0%	11.0%	58.2%	31.8%	9.6%	0.4%
Craigavon	41.7%	46.7%	11.6%	42.1%	42.1%	15.8%	43.4%	37.7%	17.5%	1.4%
Derry	70.9%	20.8%	8.4%	67.4%	19.4%	13.1%	70.3%	18.0%	10.6%	1.0%
Down	57.1%	29.2%	13.7%	57.5%	27.1%	15.4%	58.4%	24.8%	16.2%	0.6%
Dungannon	57.3%	34.9%	7.7%	58.7%	29.8%	11.5%	62.6%	26.9%	9.9%	0.7%
Fermanagh	55.5%	36.1%	8.4%	54.9%	34.3%	10.8%	55.8%	32.1%	11.2%	0.9%
Larne	22.2%	61.9%	15.9%	21.8%	59.7%	18.5%	21.3%	54.7%	23.3%	0.7%
Limavady	53.1%	36.1%	10.7%	56.0%	34.3%	9.7%	57.5%	31.7%	10.5%	0.3%
Lisburn	30.1%	53.6%	16.4%	32.8%	47.9%	19.3%	35.2%	41.8%	21.6%	1.4%
Magherafelt	61.5%	32.0%	6.5%	62.4%	28.3%	9.3%	65.0%	26.2%	8.1%	0.7%
Moyle	56.6%	33.8%	9.6%	54.4%	32.3%	13.3%	54.3%	32.1%	13.1%	0.5%
Newry and Mourne	75.9%	16.4%	7.7%	72.1%	15.2%	12.7%	75.1%	14.9%	9.3%	0.7%
Newtownabbey	17.1%	64.5%	18.4%	19.9%	57.8%	22.3%	22.1%	51.0%	25.6%	1.4%
North Down	10.0%	64.5%	25.5%	11.2%	60.3%	28.5%	11.6%	52.2%	34.9%	1.4%
Omagh	65.1%	26.3%	8.6%	65.4%	24.8%	9.8%	67.7%	22.9%	8.8%	0.7%
Strabane	63.1%	30.9%	6.0%	60.1%	30.7%	9.2%	63.0%	29.5%	7.0%	0.5%

Map showing the proportion of the population in Northern Ireland who stated they had no religion in the 2011 census.

Stated religion for each age in the 2011 Northern Ireland census.

The percentage of respondents in each religious category of the census in Northern Ireland (or the area that would later become Northern Ireland).
There was a high level of non-enumeration during the 1981 census, mainly due to protests in Catholic areas regarding the 1981 Irish hunger strike. ^[39]

National identity

Map of predominant national identity in the 2011 census in Northern Ireland

See also: List of districts in Northern Ireland by national identity

Map of districts of Northern Ireland colour coded to show the predominant national identity in the 2011 census. Stronger green indicates a higher proportion of people describing themselves as Irish. Stronger blue indicates a higher proportion of people describing themselves as British. Percentages show the difference between the proportion of people describing themselves as Irish and the proportion of people describing themselves as British.

Map of districts of Northern Ireland colour coded to show the predominant national identity amongst Catholics in the 2011 census. Stronger green indicates a higher proportion of Catholics describing themselves as Irish. Blue indicates more Catholics describing themselves as British than as Irish. Percentages show the difference between the proportion of Catholics describing themselves as Irish and the proportion of Catholics describing themselves as British.

In Northern Ireland national identity is complex. Many in Northern Ireland have a British national identity and view the English, Scots and Welsh as fellow members of their common nation while regarding people from the Republic of Ireland as foreigners. Many others in Northern Ireland view people from the Republic of Ireland as being members of their common nation encompassing the island of Ireland and regard the English, Scots and Welsh as foreigners. Co-existing with this dichotomy is a Northern Irish identity, which can be held alone or, as is also the case with Englishness, Scottishness and Welshness, alongside a British identity, or alongside an Irish identity. A small number of people see themselves as being both British and Irish.

Although there is a strong correlation between religion and national identity, Catholics tending to identify as Irish and Protestants tending to identify as British, this is not an absolute relationship, and the correlation is much weaker amongst Catholics than it is amongst Protestants. Amongst Catholics, geography also plays an important role, with Catholics in heavily Protestant parts of Northern Ireland being more likely to call themselves British and less likely to call themselves Irish than Catholics in more Catholic areas of Northern Ireland. (The reverse is true for Protestants, but to a lesser extent.) In the 2011 census there were four of the twenty-six districts of Northern Ireland, all on the east coast, where more Catholics considered themselves British than considered themselves Irish.

While in the 2011 census Protestants outnumbered Catholics in only half of the districts in Northern Ireland, those who considered themselves British outnumbered those who considered themselves Irish in twenty of the twenty-six districts in Northern Ireland. This is partly because Catholics were more likely to see themselves as British than Protestants were to see themselves as Irish (13% vs. 4% respectively), but is also partly because those of no religion were substantially more likely to see themselves as British as see themselves as Irish. The irreligious tend to live in Protestant areas, suggesting that they are mostly of Protestant descent. Members of the immigrant population, which includes many Poles, are also more likely to consider themselves Catholic.

Northern Irish identity was almost equally held amongst Protestants as amongst Catholics, and it varied little according to geography.

In the 2021 census respondents gave their national identity as follows.

2021 Census ^[40]

National identity	Respondents
British only	606,300(36.10%)
Irish only	554,400(33.01%)
Northern Irish only	376,400(22.41%)
English, Scottish or Welsh	29,000(1.73%)
Other	113,400(6.75%)

Shows the most common national identity stated in the 2011 census in Northern Ireland. Red is British, blue is Northern Irish and green is Irish.

• Identity in Northern Ireland in 2021 by population pyramid
• 
  British only identity
• 
  Irish only identity
• 
  Northern Irish only identity

Passports held

Map of the most commonly held passport according to the 2011 census. Red is British and green is Irish.

Those born in Northern Ireland have automatic British citizenship on the same basis and with the same provisos as those born elsewhere in the United Kingdom. As well as this, and despite the withdrawal of its constitutional claim to Northern Ireland in 1999, the Irish Government also grants the Entitlement to Irish citizenship to those born in Northern Ireland this is not automatic but a personal choice under Irish nationality law people in Northern Ireland have to choose this and are not born with automatic Irish citizenship. This means that most people in Northern Ireland are entitled to a British passport, an Irish passport, or both, as they so choose. By agreement between the Irish Government and Post Office Ltd, post offices in Northern Ireland provide a service whereby customers can apply for an Irish passport, operating alongside their service whereby customers can apply for a British passport. In the 2011 census, respondents stated that they held the following passports. ^{[41] [42]}

Passport	All usual residents	Religion or religion brought up in
		Catholic	Protestant and other Christian	Other Religions	None
No passport	18.9%	19.2%	18.5%	9.9%	20.2%
EU/EEA Countries	82.1%	82.4%	82.4%	69.3%	78.4%
United Kingdom	59.1%	38.4%	77.8%	56.0%	65.2%
Ireland	20.8%	40.5%	4.1%	10.0%	7.2%
Poland	1.0%	2.0%	0.1%	0.6%	0.9%
Lithuania	0.4%	0.7%	0.0%	0.2%	0.8%
Other EU/EEA	0.8%	0.9%	0.4%	2.4%	4.2%
Other	1.2%	0.9%	0.7%	26.0%	3.5%

Passport	All usual residents	Religion or religion brought up in
		Catholic	Protestant and other Christian	Other Religions	None
No passport	18.9%	19.2%	18.5%	9.9%	20.2%
United Kingdom only	57.2%	36.1%	76.3%	51.6%	63.3%
Ireland only	18.9%	38.1%	2.7%	7.4%	5.9%
United Kingdom and Ireland only	1.7%	2.1%	1.3%	1.8%	1.1%
United Kingdom and other (not Ireland)	0.2%	0.1%	0.2%	2.4%	0.7%
Ireland and other (not United Kingdom)	0.1%	0.2%	0.0%	0.6%	0.2%
EU/EEA (not United Kingdom or Ireland)	2.2%	3.5%	0.4%	3.1%	5.9%
Other	0.8%	0.6%	0.4%	23.0%	2.7%

Age

Population pyramid from 1971 to projections to 2050

According to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Authority the average (median) age increased from 34 years to 37 years between the 2001 and 2011 censuses. Over the same period, the share of the population represented by children aged under 16 years fell from 24 per cent to 21 per cent, while the proportion of people aged 65 years and over rose from 13 per cent to 15 per cent. ^[43]

• Population pyramids of each of Northern Ireland's Local Government Districts
• 
  Ards and North Down
• 
  Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
• 
  Antrim and Newtownabbey
• 
  Belfast
• 
  Causeway Coast and Glens
• 
  Derry City and Strabane
• 
  Fermanagh and Omagh
• 
  Mid and East Antrim
• 
  Mid Ulster
• 
  Newry, Mourne and Down
• 
  Lisburn and Castlereagh

Vital statistics since 1900

	Average population [44] [45] [46] [47]	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate
1901		30,782	23,954	6,828
1902		30,707	23,171	7,536
1903		31,290	23,096	8,194
1904		31,550	23,536	8,014
1905		31,405	22,949	8,456
1906		31,389	23,039	8,350
1907		30,969	23,754	7,215
1908		30,600	23,133	7,467
1909		30,640	22,275	8,365
1910	1,246,000	30,219	22,576	7,643	24.3	18.1	6.1
1911	1,249,000	30,407	21,326	9,081	24.3	17.1	7.3
1912	1,248,000	30,301	21,698	8,603	24.3	17.4	6.9
1913	1,243,000	29,880	22,510	7,370	24.0	18.1	5.9
1914	1,242,000	29,704	21,671	8,033	23.9	17.4	6.5
1915	1,210,000	28,082	22,438	5,644	23.2	18.5	4.7
1916	1,205,000	26,623	20,764	5,859	22.1	17.2	4.9
1917	1,208,000	24,949	21,011	3,938	20.7	17.4	3.3
1918	1,214,000	26,212	25,013	1,199	21.6	20.6	1.0
1919	1,250,000	27,496	22,836	4,660	22.0	18.2	3.8
1920	1,258,000	32,521	21,017	11,504	25.8	16.7	9.1
1921	1,264,000	29,710	19,301	10,409	23.7	15.4	8.3
1922	1,269,000	29,531	19,795	9,736	23.2	15.6	7.6
1923	1,259,000	30,097	18,790	11,307	23.9	14.9	9.1
1924	1,258,000	28,496	20,299	8,197	22.7	16.1	6.5
1925	1,257,000	27,686	19,784	7,902	22.0	15.8	6.3
1926	1,254,000	28,162	18,827	9,335	22.5	15.1	7.4
1927	1,250,000	26,676	18,216	8,460	21.4	14.6	6.8
1928	1,247,000	25,963	18,004	7,959	20.9	14.4	6.4
1929	1,240,000	25,410	19,822	5,588	20.5	16.0	4.4
1930	1,237,000	25,879	17,148	8,731	20.9	13.9	7.0
1931	1,243,000	25,673	18,049	7,624	20.7	14.5	6.2
1932	1,251,000	25,107	17,812	7,295	20.1	14.2	5.8
1933	1,258,000	24,601	18,154	6,447	19.6	14.5	5.1
1934	1,265,000	25,365	17,521	7,844	20.1	13.9	6.2
1935	1,271,000	24,742	18,592	6,150	19.5	14.6	4.8
1936	1,276,000	25,909	18,429	7,480	20.3	14.4	5.9
1937	1,281,000	25,412	19,282	6,130	19.8	15.1	4.8
1938	1,286,000	25,742	17,649	8,093	20.0	13.7	6.3
1939	1,295,000	25,240	17,542	7,698	19.5	13.5	5.9
1940	1,299,000	25,363	18,941	6,422	19.5	14.6	4.9
1941	1,308,000	26,887	20,034	6,853	20.6	15.3	5.2
1942	1,329,000	29,645	17,570	12,075	22.3	13.2	9.1
1943	1,341,000	31,521	17,720	13,801	23.5	13.2	10.3
1944	1,357,000	30,900	16,980	13,920	22.8	12.5	10.3
1945	1,359,000	29,007	16,432	12,575	21.3	12.1	9.3
1946	1,350,000	30,134	16,706	13,428	22.3	12.4	9.9
1947	1,350,000	31,254	16,944	14,310	23.2	12.6	10.6
1948	1,362,000	29,532	15,145	14,387	21.7	11.1	10.6
1949	1,371,000	29,106	15,670	13,436	21.2	11.4	9.8
1950	1,377,000	28,794	15,839	12,955	20.9	11.5	9.4
1951	1,373,000	28,477	17,628	10,849	20.7	12.8	7.9
1952	1,375,000	28,760	14,812	13,948	20.9	10.8	10.1
1953	1,384,000	28,984	14,813	14,171	20.9	10.7	10.2
1954	1,387,000	28,803	15,124	13,679	20.8	10.9	9.9
1955	1,394,000	28,965	15,407	13,558	20.8	11.1	9.7
1956	1,397,000	29,489	14,858	14,631	21.1	10.6	10.5
1957	1,399,000	30,108	15,187	14,921	21.5	10.9	10.7
1958	1,402,000	30,301	15,132	15,169	21.6	10.8	10.8
1959	1,408,000	30,809	15,403	15,406	21.9	10.9	10.9
1960	1,420,000	31,989	15,296	16,693	22.5	10.8	11.8
1961	1,427,000	31,915	16,108	15,807	22.4	11.3	11.1
1962	1,435,000	32,565	15,226	17,339	22.7	10.6	12.1
1963	1,446,000	33,414	15,899	17,515	23.1	11.0	12.1
1964	1,458,000	34,345	15,354	18,991	23.6	10.5	13.0
1965	1,469,000	33,890	15,551	18,339	23.1	10.6	12.5
1966	1,478,000	33,228	16,441	16,787	22.5	11.1	11.4
1967	1,491,000	33,415	14,671	18,744	22.4	9.8	12.6
1968	1,502,000	33,173	15,933	17,240	22.1	10.6	11.5
1969	1,513,000	32,428	16,338	16,090	21.4	10.8	10.6
1970	1,525,000	32,086	16,551	15,535	21.0	10.9	10.2
1971	1,540,000	31,765	16,202	15,563	20.6	10.5	10.1
1972	1,539,000	29,994	17,032	12,962	19.5	11.1	8.4
1973	1,530,000	29,200	17,669	11,531	19.1	11.5	7.5
1974	1,527,000	27,160	17,327	9,833	17.8	11.3	6.4
1975	1,524,000	26,130	16,511	9,619	17.2	10.8	6.4
1976	1,524,000	26,361	17,030	9,331	17.3	11.2	6.1
1977	1,523,000	25,437	16,921	8,516	16.7	11.1	5.6
1978	1,523,000	26,239	16,153	10,086	17.2	10.6	6.6
1979	1,528,000	28,178	16,811	11,367	18.4	11.0	7.4
1980	1,533,000	28,582	16,835	11,747	18.6	11.0	7.7
1981	1,543,000	27,166	16,256	10,910	17.6	10.5	7.1	2.79
1982	1,545,000	26,872	15,918	10,954	17.4	10.3	7.1	2.59
1983	1,551,000	27,026	16,039	10,987	17.4	10.3	7.1	2.53
1984	1,557,000	27,477	15,692	11,785	17.6	10.1	7.5	2.51
1985	1,565,000	27,427	15,955	11,472	17.5	10.2	7.3	2.50
1986	1,574,000	27,975	16,065	11,910	17.8	10.2	7.6	2.45
1987	1,582,000	27,653	15,334	12,319	17.5	9.7	7.8	2.44
1988	1,585,000	27,514	15,813	11,701	17.4	10.0	7.4	2.39
1989	1,590,000	25,831	15,844	9,987	16.2	10.0	6.2	2.35
1990	1,596,000	26,251	15,426	10,825	16.5	9.7	6.8	2.19
1991	1,607,000	26,028	15,096	10,932	16.2	9.4	6.9	2.21
1992	1,623,000	25,354	14,988	10,366	15.6	9.2	6.4	2.16
1993	1,636,000	24,722	15,633	9,089	15.1	9.6	5.5	2.08
1994	1,644,000	24,098	15,114	8,984	14.7	9.2	5.5	2.01
1995	1,649,000	23,693	15,310	8,383	14.4	9.3	5.1	1.95
1996	1,662,000	24,382	15,218	9,164	14.7	9.2	5.5	1.91
1997	1,671,000	24,087	14,971	9,116	14.4	9.0	5.4	1.95
1998	1,678,000	23,668	14,993	8,675	14.1	8.9	5.2	1.93
1999	1,679,000	22,957	15,663	7,294	13.7	9.3	4.3	1.90
2000	1,683,000	21,512	14,903	6,609	12.8	8.9	3.9	1.86
2001	1,689,000	21,962	14,513	7,449	13.0	8.6	4.4	1.75
2002	1,697,000	21,385	14,586	6,799	12.6	8.6	4.0	1.81
2003	1,703,000	21,648	14,462	7,186	12.7	8.5	4.2	1.76
2004	1,710,000	22,318	14,354	7,964	13.0	8.4	4.7	1.79
2005	1,724,000	22,328	14,224	8,104	12.9	8.2	4.7	1.84
2006	1,742,000	23,272	14,532	8,740	13.4	8.3	5.0	1.84
2007	1,759,000	24,451	14,649	9,802	13.9	8.3	5.6	1.90
2008	1,775,000	25,631	14,907	10,724	14.4	8.4	6.0	1.98
2009	1,789,000	24,910	14,413	10,497	13.9	8.1	5.8	2.05
2010	1,799,000	25,315	14,457	10,858	14.1	8.0	6.1	2.02
2011	1,809,000	25,273	14,204	11,069	14.0	7.8	6.2	2.02
2012	1,820,000	25,269	14,756	10,513	14.0	8.1	5.9	2.03
2013	1,830,000	24,277	14,968	9,309	13.3	8.2	5.1	1.95
2014	1,840,000	24,394	14,678	9,716	13.3	8.0	5.3	1.96
2015	1,851,000	24,215	15,553	8,662	13.1	8.4	4.7	1.94
2016	1,862,000	24,076	15,430	8,646	12.9	8.3	4.6	1.93
2017	1,871,000	23,075	16,036	7,039	12.3	8.6	3.7	1.85
2018	1,882,000	22,829	15,923	6,906	12.1	8.5	3.6	1.83
2019	1,893,700	22,447	15,758	6,689	11.9	8.3	3.6	1.80
2020	1,896,000	20,815	17,614	3,201	11.0	9.3	1.7	1.68
2021	1,903,175	22,071	17,558	4,513	11.6	9.2	2.4	1.79
2022	1,910,500	20,837	17,159	3,678	10.9	9.0	1.9	1.71
2023		19,977	17,254	2,723

Current vital statistics

^{[48] [49]}

Period	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase
January - March 2023	5,301	4,799	+502
January - March 2024	5,077	5,059	+18
Difference	-224 (-4.22%)	+260 (+5.42%)	-484

See also

• Demographics of the Republic of Ireland
• Demographics of the United Kingdom
  • Demographics of England
  • Demographics of Scotland
  • Demographics of Wales
• Politics of Northern Ireland

References

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2. Specia, Megan; O’Loughlin, Ed (22 September 2022). "Catholics Outnumber Protestants in Northern Ireland for the First Time". The New York Times.
3. Cooley, Laurence (30 August 2021). "Census politics in Northern Ireland from the Good Friday Agreement to Brexit: Beyond the 'sectarian headcount'?". The British Journal of Politics and International Relations. 23 (3): 451–470. doi: 10.1177/1369148120959045 . S2CID   228856031.
4. "More Catholics than Protestants in Northern Ireland for first time, census finds". The Irish Times.
5. "Communal counting: The Northern Ireland census". 6 March 2019.
6. "Census 2021: More from Catholic background in NI than Protestant". BBC News. 22 September 2022.
7. Pepper, Diarmuid. "'Historic' shift for Northern Ireland but what do the Census findings tell us about its future?". TheJournal.ie.
8. "Why drawing political claims from NI census is problematic". 26 September 2022 – via www.rte.ie.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
9. Coulter, Colin; Flaherty, Eoin; Shirlow, Peter (20 September 2023). "'Seismic' or stalemate? The (bio)politics of the 2021 Northern Ireland Census". Space and Polity. doi: 10.1080/13562576.2023.2260153 .
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11. "NISRA: Population Clock" . Retrieved 7 March 2019.
12. "Statistical Classification and Delineation of Settlements" (PDF). Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. February 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2014.
13. Part of Belfast metropolitan area
14. "NI migrant population triples in decade, says study". BBC News. 26 June 2014.
15. "Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service" (XLS). Ninis2.nisra.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
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17. "Census 2021 main statistics demography tables – country of birth". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
18. "Table 1.3: Overseas-born population in the United Kingdom, excluding some residents in communal establishments, by sex, by country of birth, January 2014 to December 2014". Office for National Statistics. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2016. Figures given are the central estimates. See the source for 95 per cent confidence intervals.
19. "Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service" . Retrieved 22 July 2014.
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22. "Racial Equality (The Executive Office)". build.nisra.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
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24. "Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service" . Retrieved 22 July 2014.
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26. "Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service" . Retrieved 22 July 2014.
27. "Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service". Archived from the original on 1 April 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
28. "2001 Northern Irish Census" (PDF). Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
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30. "Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service" . Retrieved 22 July 2014.
31. "2011 Census - Key Statistics for Northern Ireland - Report" (PDF). Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
32. Carroll, Rory (22 September 2022). "Catholics outnumber Protestants in Northern Ireland for first time". The Guardian . Retrieved 23 September 2022.
33. "Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service" . Retrieved 22 July 2014.
34. "Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service" . Retrieved 22 July 2014.
35. "Census 2021 main statistics religion tables". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
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37. "Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service" . Retrieved 22 July 2014.
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44. B.R. Mitchell. European historical statistics, 1750–1975
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47. "Population and vital events, 1926-2014" (PDF). Nisra.gov.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
48. "Births". NISRA. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
49. "Deaths". NISRA. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

Further reading

• Kaufmann, Eric (2011). "Demographic Change and Conflict in Northern Ireland: Reconciling Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence" (PDF). Ethnopolitics. 10 (3–4): 369–389. doi:10.1080/17449057.2011.596117. ISSN   1744-9057. S2CID   10882870.