Initial results from the Census of Population record that Ireland's population is currently 5,124,000 people, an increase of 7.6% since 2016.

Central Statistics Office data counts the population at 2,593,600 females and 2,529,900 males.

The Republic of Ireland (26 counties) population increase of 362,000 since 2016 was made up of a natural increase (births minus deaths) of 171,000 and estimated net inward migration (population change minus natural increase) of 190,000.

The counties recording the highest population growth were in Leinster.

In the 2016 to 2022 period, the Longford population grew by 14%, with Meath, Kildare, and Fingal also growing strongly.

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In contrast to 2016, when Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal had a fall in their population, the preliminary results show the population of every county has increased since 2016.

In Leinster, ten of the 12 counties showed a higher percentage increase than the national average, with Offaly (+6%), and Kilkenny (+4.5%), being lower.

In Munster, Waterford (+9.4%) had a higher percentage increase than that of the state overall.

Both Leitrim (+9.5%) and Roscommon (+8.4%) showed a higher percentage increase than the national rate, while Cavan, Donegal, or Monaghan did not.

The population figure of 5.1 million, the highest since 1841, compares to 6.5 million people recorded in the 26 counties that year.

CSO census data counts the total housing stock in April 2022 at 2,124,600 dwellings, an increase of 6.0% on the 2016 figure. Holiday homes amount to 66,100, up 4,000 in the past six years.

The CSO will publish the full set of Census 2022 results next year.

The population of Northern Ireland was measured at 1.9 million in 2019, so the all-island population of Ireland is current c.7 million.

This compares with 5.5 million for Scotland and 3.1 million for Wales. The population of England is 56 million.

For the politically inclined, the figures show that TDs are now representing more people — the average number of persons per TD for the country was 32,000, with 38 of the 39 Dáil constituencies having more than 30,000 persons per TD.

The fastest-growing Dáil constituency is Meath East, which increased by 11,500 persons or 13% over the six years between 2016 and 2022.

The slowest growing constituencies were Dublin Bay South (5%), Limerick County (4%) and Donegal (4%). None of the 39 constituencies showed a fall in population.

All counties experienced an increase in net migration over the six-year period between 2016 and 2022, with an average annual net inflow of 31,700 nationally, in contrast to the average outflow of 4,900 persons per year in the period from 2011 to 2016.

Photo: Taoiseach Micheál Martin at the launched of Census 2022 with Zara and Mya Akinsowan. (Pic: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie)