Demographic profile
Ireland is the 125th most populous of the 238 countries and territories tracked on this site, home to about 0.06% of everyone alive. Within British Isles, it ranks 2 of 2.
Each day brings roughly 243 births and 114 deaths, adding about 47,116 people over a year. At the current natural-increase rate of 0.9% annually, the population would double in roughly 78 years if the rate held. Real trajectories bend as fertility, mortality and migration shift, which is why the chart below shows both history and projection.
Among its first-level divisions, the largest by our modelled allocation is Donegal, holding an estimated 19.9% of the national population. The full breakdown of all 30 states and regions is in the table below — regional figures outside Sudan are modelled estimates built on real region names, and are flagged as such.
Literacy stands near 85.0% and adult smoking prevalence around 17.0%, with life expectancy at about 76.8 years. Baselines come from UN World Population Prospects, the World Bank, WHO surveys, WorldPop and HDX; the counters project them forward in real time — the method, and every caveat, is documented on our data sources page.
Quick answers
What is the population of Ireland in 2026? Approximately 5,234,356 people (live projection; the counter above updates every second).
How fast is Ireland growing? About 0.9% per year — roughly 243 births and 114 deaths every day.
What share of the world lives in Ireland? Around 0.06% — ranked 125 worldwide by population.