Irish population 'growing fastest in EU'

Ireland has once again recorded by far the highest natural growth in population in the European Union.

The difference between the live births and deaths in Ireland last year was 46,000 or 10.3 per 1,000, far ahead of any other member state, with Cyprus recording the second highest increase at 5.7 per 1,000 and France at 4.4 per 1,000.

However, the natural increase in the Irish population was balanced by the fact that Ireland recorded the second highest outflow in the European Union, with 33,700 more people leaving than coming into the country last year marking an outflow of 7.5 per 1,000.

Eight member states recorded negative natural growth, with Germany recording a natural decrease of 2.2 per 1,000 in the population.

Overall the population of the EU increased by 1.4 million from 501.1 million in January 2010 to 502.5 million at the start of this year due to a natural increase of 0.5 million and net migration of 0.9 million.

The figures come from a report published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, and data refers to January 1st, 2011.