Irish population growth second fastest in the European Union

Business World:

The Irish population increased by 12.3% to over 4 million between 1995-2004, new figures show.

The figures, contained in a report released today by the Central Statistics Office entitled Measuring Ireland's Progress 2004, show that the population surge is the second highest increase in the EU.

The report outlines the progress made in Ireland in important economic, social and environmental areas and also benchmarks the situation in Ireland against the other EU Member States.

According to the report, the fertility rate in Ireland remained the highest in the EU 25 in 2003.

Life expectancy at birth 80.3 years for Irish woman and 75.1 years for Irish men between 2001 and 2003. The proportion of persons aged 25-34 in Ireland with 3rd level education rose from 27.1% in 1999 to 39.4% in 2004. The corresponding EU 25 rate in 2004 was 24.8%.

In 2003, Ireland had the second highest GDP per capita within the enlarged EU which was almost one-third higher than the EU 25 average.

Ireland seems to be growing both in wealth and population.