CSO ‘Measuring Ireland’s Progress 2026’ report shows net migration at 92 000, highest since 2007

The Central Statistics Office has published its flagship annual compendium ‘Measuring Ireland’s Progress 2026’, revealing that net immigration reached 92 000 in the year to April—up from 78 000 the previous year and the highest figure since the pre-crisis peak of 2007. The release, issued at 11 a.m. on 20 October 2026, draws on Population & Migration Estimates (PxStat PEA18) and disaggregates flows by region and nationality. EU citizens still account for the largest numeric share of arrivals (34 %), but the fastest-growing cohort is from India and the Philippines, reflecting tightening labour markets in healthcare and ICT. The data dovetail with DETE’s employment-permit statistics, which show record volumes of Critical Skills permits issued to software engineers and medical practitioners. For multinational employers the headline takeaway is Ireland’s sustained ability to attract overseas talent—even as other EU states roll back post-pandemic concessions. However, the CSO notes that emigration also ticked up to 30 000, driven mainly by young Irish nationals relocating to Australia and Canada, hinting at continued wage-pressure dynamics in the domestic labour pool. Policy analysts predict that the figures will intensify political debate ahead of Budget 2027 on housing supply, an issue that directly affects corporate-relocation packages as rents in Dublin remain among Europe’s highest. Immigration lawyers, meanwhile, argue that robust net inflows may stiffen government resolve to tighten the ‘50:50’ local-labour rule or raise salary thresholds again in 2027. The CSO’s granular county-level tables—new in this edition—allow HR strategists to model site-selection decisions outside the capital, highlighting strong migrant-population growth in Limerick (+12 %) and Waterford (+9 %).