YOUNG MEN are around twice as likely to emigrate as women are – with over a tenth of men between the ages of 20 and 29 having left the country in the last six years, an ESRI report has found.
The institute’s analysis of the 2011 Census has found that Ireland’s population of twentysomethings decreased by 40,000 between the censuses of 2006 and 2011.
When split by gender, this corresponds to roughly a tenth of all men within that age group, and one-twentieth (or 5 per cent) of all women within that bracket, according to the report compiled by economist and former BBC journalist Pete Lunn.
But in the same period there was also a reasonable amount of inward migration – with most immigrants likely to make the decision to move to Ireland while they remain in their 20s and 30s.
The report therefore concludes that an even larger proportion of Irish people must have left in the meantime in order to result in the net reduction of the twentysomething population.
Elsewhere, the report suggests that Ireland’s unique age profile – with a significant spike in the number of people in their early 30s, relative to the rest of the population – presents some challenges for future governments.
While the large numbers of people aged 28-32 would explain the recent surge in births, that birth rate would fall in the coming years given the significantly smaller population of people aged between 13 and 23.
Ireland’s age profile “may also have implications for, among other things, the composition of tax revenues, the funding of pensions, and the demand for various health services,” the report suggests.
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