Dublin Population 2023

The population of the city of Dublin is 554,554.

Dublin is the capital of Ireland, and its largest city. It is also the 46th largest city in the EU. It is located on the East coast of Ireland, in the Province of Leinster.

The first known settlement was founded by the Gaels in the 7th century, and by the 12th century Dublin was the largest settlement in Ireland.

Bar chart showing the population of Dublin at each census since 1901

The population of the wider Dublin urban area is twice as large as the city itself – 1,173,179 according to the 2016 census, and likely to increase further when the results of the 2022 census are made available in 2023.

The population of County Dublin, in which the city of Dublin sits, is larger still at 1,273,069. (Read more here about the counties of Ireland.)

And, finally, the population of the Greater Dublin Area – which includes the whole of Dublin City, most of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, South Dublin and Fingal, and parts of County Kildare, County Meath and County Wicklow – is estimated to be 2,073,459.

Dublin Population Growth

There are two tables in this section.

The first covers the period 1510 to 1813, and is based on a range of historical sources. The second covers the period from 1821 to the present day, and comes from the Central Statistics Office.

Although Dublin’s population did not change much between 1510 and 1659, the second half of the 17th century saw a spurt of sustained population growth that was only briefly interrupted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The second half of the 20th century saw a different story, however, and the city’s population gradually fell – from 588,773 in 1966 to 481,854 in 1991.

This is not an unusual decline – Belfast, the other major city on the island of Ireland also saw a fall in population, as did many major cities elsewhere in the neighbouring United Kingdom. Movement out from inner city areas towards neighbouring suburban areas was a major factor and, as the city of Dublin’s population fell, the population of the surrounding Greater Dublin metropolitan area increased.

Today the city of Dublin is growing in population again and, at some point in the 2020s it’s population is expected to pass 600,000 for the first time.

Dublin Population 1510 – 1813

YearPopulation% change
15106,443—    
15506,7715.10%
15807,0033.40%
15855,833−16.7%
16007,53229.10%
16106,266−16.8%
16136,020−3.9%
16165,913−1.8%
16215,888−0.4%
16315,714−3.0%
16415,8883.00%
16516,0242.30%
16536,1331.80%
16598,78043.20%
169547,000435.30%
171589,00089.40%
1733123,00038.20%
1760141,00014.60%
1778154,0009.20%
1798180,00016.90%
1813176,610−1.9%
Population of Dublin from 1510 to 1813

Dublin Population – 1821 – present

YearPopulation% change
1821186,276—    
1831232,36224.70%
1841233,7260.60%
1851254,8109.00%
1861263,7513.50%
1871267,7171.50%
1881349,58330.60%
1891352,5410.80%
1901290,638−17.6%
1911304,8024.90%
1926404,09432.60%
1936472,91217.00%
1946506,0517.00%
1951580,38814.70%
1956584,4830.70%
1961537,448−8.0%
1966588,7739.50%
1971567,866−3.6%
1979544,586−4.1%
1981525,882−3.4%
1986502,749−4.4%
1991478,389−4.8%
1996481,8540.70%
2002495,1012.70%
2006506,2112.20%
2011525,3833.80%
2016553,1655.30%
Population of Dublin – 1821 to present

Dublin ethnicity demographics

In keeping with its status as Ireland’s capital city, Dublin is becoming an increasingly diverse city.

The largest single ethnicity is still white by quite some distance (91.8% in 2016), but the number of residents who report that they are of another ethnicity is increasing. In 2016 there were 20,172 people who reported that their ethnic group was Asian, and 6,979 people who reported that their ethnic group was black.

Immigration in recent years has been largely driven by arrivals from elsewhere in the European Union. At the 2016 census, 46,553 people living in Dublin were born elsewhere in the EU (this includes 12,481 people from just two countries – Poland and Estonia.

Place of birthPopulation
Ireland419,158
United Kingdom22,307
Other EU46,553
Rest of World49,172
2016 census data for place of birth of Dublin residents

But it excludes the 22,307 people who were born in the United Kingdom, which was a part of the EU at the time but has since left. Data is not available on the number of Dublin residents born in the UK who were born in the province of Northern Ireland.

The vast majority of Dublin residents (419,158) were born in Ireland.

Dublin religious demographics

In common with the rest of Ireland, the largest religion in Dublin is Roman Catholicism. in 2016, 70% of Dubliners were Catholic.

A further 11.9% of people practiced another religion (including other Christian religions as well as non Christian religions) and non-religious people made up 18.1% of the population.

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