Urban population growth (annual %) in Ireland
Ireland: Urban population growth (annual %) was 2.0% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Urban population growth in Ireland, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
In 2025, urban population growth in Ireland stood at 2.0%.
That represents a change of up 3.4% on the previous year and up 80.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population growth in Ireland peaked at 3.4% in 2007 and was at its lowest, -0.2%, in 1988.
That places Ireland 70th out of 218 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 65 years of available data.
Urban population growth (annual %) in Ireland, year by year
| Year | annual % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1.0% | — |
| 1962 | 1.9% | +88.9% |
| 1963 | 2.4% | +24.3% |
| 1964 | 2.3% | -0.6% |
| 1965 | 2.1% | -8.9% |
| 1966 | 1.9% | -10.4% |
| 1967 | 1.8% | -4.2% |
| 1968 | 1.8% | -4.1% |
| 1969 | 1.8% | +2.1% |
| 1970 | 1.9% | +6.7% |
| 1971 | 2.1% | +9.3% |
| 1972 | 2.3% | +10.7% |
| 1973 | 2.4% | +3.4% |
| 1974 | 2.4% | +0.4% |
| 1975 | 2.3% | -2.4% |
| 1976 | 2.2% | -7.8% |
| 1977 | 2.0% | -9.5% |
| 1978 | 2.0% | +0.7% |
| 1979 | 1.8% | -7.1% |
| 1980 | 1.6% | -12.9% |
| 1981 | 1.6% | -2.3% |
| 1982 | 1.3% | -17.9% |
| 1983 | 1.0% | -21.9% |
| 1984 | 0.9% | -11.7% |
| 1985 | 0.4% | -53.8% |
| 1986 | 0.3% | -29.1% |
| 1987 | 0.2% | -18.7% |
| 1988 | -0.2% | -195.6% |
| 1989 | -0.2% | -14.4% |
| 1990 | 0.3% | -260.9% |
| 1991 | 0.8% | +172.2% |
| 1992 | 1.0% | +19.9% |
| 1993 | 0.9% | -13.0% |
| 1994 | 0.8% | -8.7% |
| 1995 | 0.9% | +15.9% |
| 1996 | 1.2% | +28.9% |
| 1997 | 1.4% | +17.0% |
| 1998 | 1.4% | +3.2% |
| 1999 | 1.5% | +6.2% |
| 2000 | 1.7% | +13.9% |
| 2001 | 2.0% | +15.4% |
| 2002 | 2.1% | +5.2% |
| 2003 | 2.1% | -1.6% |
| 2004 | 2.3% | +10.4% |
| 2005 | 2.7% | +15.2% |
| 2006 | 3.2% | +19.0% |
| 2007 | 3.4% | +6.5% |
| 2008 | 2.5% | -25.0% |
| 2009 | 1.5% | -41.5% |
| 2010 | 0.9% | -35.8% |
| 2011 | 0.8% | -20.6% |
| 2012 | 0.7% | -8.3% |
| 2013 | 0.8% | +11.6% |
| 2014 | 0.9% | +22.1% |
| 2015 | 1.1% | +18.1% |
| 2016 | 1.4% | +27.6% |
| 2017 | 1.6% | +15.5% |
| 2018 | 1.7% | +6.2% |
| 2019 | 1.9% | +8.6% |
| 2020 | 1.6% | -16.6% |
| 2021 | 1.7% | +9.2% |
| 2022 | 2.3% | +34.7% |
| 2023 | 2.2% | -4.0% |
| 2024 | 1.9% | -13.0% |
| 2025 | 2.0% | +3.4% |
Ireland compared with similar countries
- Ireland's 2.0% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.6%, 3.1× the median. (85 countries reporting)
- Ireland's 2.0% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.5%, 3.7× the median. (57 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Urban population growth (annual %) in Ireland changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | +260.9% | -0.2% | 0.3% |
| 1988 | -195.6% | 0.2% | -0.2% |
| 1991 | +172.2% | 0.3% | 0.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.9% | 1.0% | 2.4% | 9 |
| 1970s | 2.1% | 1.8% | 2.4% | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.7% | -0.2% | 1.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.0% | 0.3% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.3% | 1.5% | 3.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.2% | 0.7% | 1.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.0% | 1.6% | 2.3% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More climate change data for Ireland
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers (Agricultural) 320.11 million kg (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 18,098 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 3,665 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 14,433 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 13.83 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 515.47 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 1,902 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 1,899 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 2.7 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 7.17 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is urban population growth in Ireland?
- Urban population growth in Ireland was 2.0% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population growth recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 3.4% in 2007.
- What is the lowest urban population growth recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.2% in 1988.
- How does Ireland rank for urban population growth?
- Ireland ranks 70th out of 218 countries with data for 2025.
- Is urban population growth rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 80.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ireland data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Urban population growth (annual %). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Annual urban population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear urban population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank total population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects.