EMIGRATION FROM IRELAND has now reached the highest level since the 1980s, according to new statistics from the Central Statistics Office.

While the number of people leaving Ireland in the twelve months to April 2010 was broadly constant, at about 65,300 – just 200 more than last year – the volume of native Irish people among that number has increased significantly with 27,700 natives leaving the country in that year.

In the year up to April 2009, by contrast, 18,400 Irish nationals left the country on a long-term basis.

The sheer volume of emigration is the highest  since 1989, when 70,600 left these shores for good.

In line to popular perception, the bulk of the foreign nationals leaving the country was mostly accounted for by nationals from the 12 newest EU member states, returning to their home countries after work dried up in their adopted homeland.

19,100 people from the eastern bloc – two-thirds of them male – left Ireland in the twelve-month window.

During the number of immigrants coming into Ireland fell by 46% in the same period, from 57,300 to 30,800.

Ireland’s baby boom has continued apace, meanwhile, with the birth rate falling off only slightly on last year, with 74,100 births in the twelve months to April. Last year’s total was just 400 higher.

The number of people dying in Ireland fell by 1,200 to 28,200 – meaning the ‘natural increase’ in the population reached 45,900 – the highest amount on record.