In April 2016, there were 535,475 non-Irish nationals usually resident in Ireland, a less than 2 per cent decrease compared with the 2011 figure (544,357 non-Irish nationals). The top 10 nationalities accounted for almost 70 per cent of all non-Irish nationals. This report highlights some of the main facts about these nationalities. The top ten non-Irish nationalities by number were:

Polish - 122,515 persons

UK - 103,113 persons

Lithuanian - 36,552 persons

Romanian - 29,186 persons

Latvian - 19,933 persons

Brazilian - 13,640 persons

Spanish - 12,112 persons

Italian - 11,732 persons

French - 11,661 persons

German - 11,531 persons. 

There were four new additions to the top 10 non-Irish nationalities list in 2016 from 2011, namely Brazilian, Spanish, Italian, and French nationals. While German nationals remained in the top 10 list, they dropped one position to tenth since 2011. 

While most populations increased between 2011 and 2016, the number of UK, Polish, Lithuanian, and Latvian nationals fell. The largest increases between 2011 and 2016 were seen in the Spanish, Romanian and Brazilian populations. 

Of the ten nationalities profiled, six populations increased in size – four of which increased by over 50 per cent, and four populations declined – two only very slightly, between April 2011 and 2016. The Spanish population increased by 78 per cent between 2011 and 2016, the greatest percentage increase of all nationalities profiled.

Place of Residence

The Brazilian and Italian populations had the highest proportions living in cities of all nationalities profiled (72% each), while half the UK population lived in rural towns and areas.

Age Profile

The Brazilian population usually resident in Ireland had the youngest average age of all nationalities profiled, 29.9 years old.

The German (40.5 years) and UK (46.7 years) populations living in Ireland were the only two nationalities with an older average age than the usually resident population of the State (37.3 years). 

Labour Force Participation

The labour force participation rate is a measure of economic activity. Nine of the nationalities profiled had a higher labour force participation rate than the State population (61%). Only UK nationals living in Ireland had a lower labour force participation rate in both 2011 and 2016. This was largely due to the relatively high proportion of UK nationals retired in both 2011 and 2016 (15% and 19% respectively). The relatively low participation rate among Brazilian nationals reflects the high proportion of the population who were students (28% in 2011 and 32% in 2016).

Programming and software development occupations were prevalent among Spanish, Italian, French and German nationals in 2016. 6 per cent of Spanish, 5 per cent of Italian and 3 per cent of French and German nationals who were at work were in these occupations. Combined, these persons (1,414 persons) accounted for 7 per cent of all programmers and software developers in the State population (19,563 persons).

Education

90 per cent of UK nationals aged 15 years and over had ceased full-time education at the time of the Census in 2016 (86,606 persons). This was the greatest proportion of all nationalities profiled to have ceased education, and was also greater than the State proportion (83%). Conversely, only 52 per cent of the Brazilian population living in Ireland had ceased education (6,765 persons). More than one third of French nationals aged 15 years and over who had ceased full-time education had attained a postgraduate degree (2,854 persons) by April 2016, the greatest proportion of any of the nationalities profiled and significantly higher than the State population (10%).

Language Ability

70 per cent of German nationals aged 4 years and over indicated they spoke English very well in 2016, the highest proportion of the 9 non-native English speaking nationalities profiled.

Marital Status

The Latvian, Lithuanian, and UK populations usually resident in Ireland in 2016 had a high proportion of persons who were divorced or separated (15%, 13%, and 11% respectively) compared with the State (6%). Approximately two thirds of French, Italian, Brazilian, and Spanish nationals were single in April 2016, more than 20 percentage points above the State (41%). This reflected the young age profiles of these populations.

The UK population in Ireland had the highest proportion of persons whose partner was an Irish national in 2016 (41%, 39,733 UK nationals). French and German nationals were second most likely to have an Irish national as a partner (26% each, 2,845 French nationals and 2,798 German nationals). Only 4 per cent of Polish, Lithuanian, and Romanian nationals' partners were Irish.

Housing

For nine of the ten non-Irish nationalities in this report, renting was more common than home ownership. Only among UK nationals were there more home owners than renters.

General Health

Among the nationalities profiled the Spanish had the highest proportion that reported very good health. (66%)