NEWS REPORTS YESTERDAY claimed that the number of non-EU citizens found to be ‘illegally present’ in Ireland last year was the highest in Europe and 10 times the EU average.
The claim, based on figures from Eurostat, suggested that there were 28.9 illegal third country nationals per 1,000 Irish inhabitants.
However, the initial figures were incorrect because of a misplaced decimal point by the agency.
In reality Ireland had 10 times fewer ‘illegally present immigrants’ in the country compared to the EU average last year.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union which enables comparisons between countries and regions, has since corrected the figure.
According to its figures, 1,265,350 non-EU citizens were found to be ‘illegally present’ in the EU in 2023, an increase of 12.9% compared with 2022.
Germany reported the largest number of non-EU citizens found to be illegally present, at 263,670.
In Ireland, this figure was 1,485, an increase on the 2022 figure of 1,240.
Relative to the population, the rate of non-EU citizens found to be ‘illegally present’ last year in the EU per one thousand inhabitants was 2.8.
In Ireland, this rate was 0.28, one of the lowest across the EU with only Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Portugal ranking lower.
However, a typo by Eurostat in the misplacement of a decimal point mistakenly put Ireland’s lowly rate of 0.28 at 28.
This typo wrongly placed Ireland at the top of the list of countries when it came to the number of irregular immigrants here relative to our population.
The figures also showed that 7,405 non-EU citizens were prevented from entering Ireland last year.
It was the 4th highest number among EU member states with only Poland, Hungary and Croatia refusing a higher number of non-EU nationals.
When the error about the 28 figure emerged today, following some reports in Irish news outlets, Eurostat corrected the figure.
Clarification: An earlier version of this article incorrectly included a percentage sign on the figure 0.28 in the tenth paragraph.
Editors’ Note on language and terminology in this article: Eurostat titles this data set ‘Third country nationals found to be illegally present’. However, the Department of Justice says that it does not use or advocate the term ‘illegal immigrant’. Many people who enter the country unlawfully will go on to seek asylum – which is their right. To find out more about the the term – and the reasons why it is not used, click here.
Need more clarity and context on how migration is being discussed in Ireland? Check out our new FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to finding good information online.
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