statistics
Irish-born in US among oldest, least poor
Monday, March 9th, 2009Irish-born residents of the US are among the oldest immigrant groups, and least likely to be poor, according to a survey released by the US Census Bureau. The study examined demographic profiles of the 38.1 million foreign-born population in the US. In 2000, 269,831 of those were Irish.
The report found that the oldest foreign born populations tend to be from Europe, with those born in Hungary (64 years) and Italy (63.1 years) having the oldest median ages. Those from Greece, Germany and Ireland have median ages of about 60. The median age for the US population as a whole is 36.7, while the total foreign-born population has a median age of 40.2.
Immigrants from Ireland have a poverty rate of only 5%; those from Ireland and the Netherlands were the least likely to be poor. In contrast, 51% of Somali residents live in poverty, along with about a quarter of those born in Iraq, the Dominican Republic, Jordan and Mexicio.
In a separate study, the bureau has found that 12% of all Americans report Irish ancestry, or a total of 36 million in 2007.
In researching this information, I was surprised to find that the Irish don’t even make it into a list of the top 25 countries of birth for immigrants in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, as evidenced by this graphic on the New York Times website.
Related web pages:
- US Census Press Release: Census Bureau Data Show Characteristics of the US Foreign-Born Population
- Fact sheet on the Irish population group using 2000 Census Demographic information
Irish emigrants make 1.7 million trips home annually
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009Irish emigrants make 1.7 million journeys home every year, according to Garret Fitzgerald. The former Taoiseach made the statement in an article highlighting the extraordinary nature of Irish foreign travel.
He highlights the following facts:
- In 2007, Irish people made 7.7 million trips abroad.
- Ireland attracts 4.5 million tourist a year.
- There are one million business visits.
- A total of 15 million round trips are made to and from Ireland every year.
Read the entire article on the Irish Times website.
Irish-born Londoners decline in number
Wednesday, November 15th, 2006The number of Irish-born people among London’s 7.3 million people now stands at 114,000, according to the Office for National Statistics. This makes the Irish the third-largest migrant group in the city, but is a dramatic fall from 1997, when there were 185,000. The Irish were at that time London’s largest migrant group.
Indian-born residents now comprise the largest migrant group, with a population of 206,000, up from 144,000 in 1997; Bangladeshis came next, at 133,000.
Similarly to Ireland, the number of Eastern Europeans has risen dramatically; there are now 70,000 Poles in the city, nearly all of whom have arrived in recent years.
The number of foreign-born people in London rose from 1.63 million in 1997 to 2.28 million in June of this year.
More information on the Independent (UK) website.
17,000 left Ireland last year
Tuesday, September 12th, 2006The latest set of CSO stats on emigration and immigration for the year up to April 06 has been released. There were an estimated 17,000 emigrants – interestingly reversing (though not by much) the downward trend of the last several years; the figure hit bottom last year at 16,600.
There were 87,000 immigrants – the highest recorded since the CSO began keeping track in 1987. About 20,000 of those were Irish nationals – Poles outnumbered returning emigrants however, with 22,900 immigrants.
- 4,400 emigrants went to Britain
- 2,800 went to the EU15
- 1,400 went to the US
- 1,100 went to the new EU states of the EU10 –some of these were likely returning emigrants from those countries.
- 7,300 went to the rest of the world.