Immigration from US to Ireland spikes as Australia is top destination for emigration

In the 12 months to April 2025, 13,500 left Ireland to go to Australia, a rise of 27% from the year before and almost a trebling from 2023.

People are leaving Ireland for Australia in the greatest numbers since the recession, while the number of people moving here from the United States is at its highest since the Central Statistics Office (CSO) began compiling these figures almost 40 years ago.

In its update on Ireland’s population and migration estimates in the year to April, the CSO said the country’s usually resident population stood at 5,458,600.